Angela Merkel's new legal requirement to consult parliament on changes to euro-zone bailout funds and the lack of detailed proposals to show lawmakers was behind a decision to split a European crisis summit in two, an aide said on Friday.
Against a backdrop of reports that Germany and France are at loggerheads on how to deliver on their promise of a solution to the crisis by month-end, European leaders will meet on Sunday to discuss a Greek debt write-down and bank recapitalisation.
But the leaders of the 17-nation single currency zone will have to meet again on Wednesday to give the German chancellor time to get a mandate from the Bundestag's (lower house of parliament) budget committee for any proposals from Brussels.
This bears out fears that a September ruling by Germany's constitutional court giving parliament more say in how Germany responds to the crisis would slow down the 17-nation currency zone's reactions by forcing Merkel to consult MPs.
Merkel's spokesman said there had to be two summits because there had not been time for the Bundestag committee to study proposals in detail -- and in German -- before Sunday, when the leaders of all 27 European Union members, then those of the euro zone, meet in Brussels at a crucial time in the crisis.
The "Troika" report on Greek debt sustainability by inspectors from Europe and the International Monetary Fund, which will help determine the scale of a writedown on Greek debt, has not yet been presented
European officials spoke of frustration with Germany's even tardier response to the crisis -- Berlin is already blamed for delays in bailing out Greece the first time, in 2010 -- though it also appeared agreement was still lacking on key details.
Merkel's conservatives and main opposition Social Democrats -- whose support for extra powers for the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) was crucial last month in the German parliament -- were in agreement on rejecting French proposals to use the European Central Bank to leverage the rescue fund.
"The path is closed for using the ECB to ease liquidity problems," Merkel was quoted as telling coalition deputies, while Seibert made it clear that the German position on this had not changed.
Carsten Schneider, the SPD's budget affairs spokesman, said his party agreed: "This would break taboos, and we, like the government, reject it."
Germany and France, which have promised a definitive plan to stop contagion from Greece -- and to a lesser extent Portugal and Ireland, which have also received bailouts -- have made it clear there is no question of increasing the 440 billion euro EFSF nor Germany's maximum contribution of 211 billion euros.
But it was not yet clear what opposition might crop up in the budget committee to less drastic measures such as other ways of leveraging the fund, or requirements for European banks to accept bigger haircuts on their Greek debt holdings and up their capital to protect savers.
Merkel managed to get the souped-up EFSF approved in the Bundestag last month with a stronger majority than expected, but her coalition allies -- especially the Free Democrats (FDP), who are weak in polls -- are increasingly prone to revolts by euroskeptics.
The FDP and and all other German parliamentary parties are represented proportionally on the 41-member budget committee, which has to approve all government expenditure. It is usually chaired by the main opposition group, meaning the SPD.
The committee was due to meet on Friday and next Tuesday to consider the proposals Merkel brings from Brussels. She will then address the full parliament on Wednesday before returning to Brussels for the decisive second leg of the summit.
