Germany's Federal Constitutional Court has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the European Central Bank's emergency bond-buying program, which was launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The court, based in Karlsruhe, stated on Thursday: "The applicants and complainants failed to sufficiently substantiate their claims."
The lawsuit was directed at the German federal government and parliament, accusing them of failing to oppose the ECB's Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP).
The complainants, a group of professors and business figures, argued that the program amounted to government financing.
The court held that an effective objection "must substantiate the substance of the position taken by the federal government, the German Bundestag, and where applicable the Bundesrat on questions of competence."
The court said: "The relevant arguments failed to adequately meet this requirement."
The ECB launched PEPP in early 2020 to help the eurozone economy cope with the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the active purchase phase from March 2020 to March 2022, the ECB net-bought approximately 1.7 trillion euros ($1.9 trillion) in bonds through the program.
The ECB fully stopped PEPP reinvestments at the end of 2024, after which maturing bonds have been steadily rolling off its balance sheet.
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