EU launches proceedings over top German court’s ECB ruling

BERLIN (AP) — The European Union has launched proceedings against Germany over a ruling by the top German court last year on a European Central Bank bond-buying program. The German ruling broke with a verdict from the EU’s own top court. Brussels said Wednesday that it “constitutes a serious precedent.” Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court in May last year gave the ECB three months to prove that its key bond-buying program was justified and appropriate. The issue has since been resolved without any disruption to the ECB’s stimulus efforts. But the ruling upset Brussels because the German court broke with the EU’s own top court, the European Court of Justice, which had approved the bond purchases.