Germany's parliament has voted by a large majority in favour of supporting a more powerful fund to bail-out troubled Eurozone economies. Chancellor Angela Merkel received strong support despite criticism of the plan from some of her ruling coalition. Many Germans are against committing more money to prop up struggling eurozone members such as Greece. There are protests in Athens where international inspectors have held talks on further bailout funds. The measure is expected to pass in Germany's upper house of parliament, where it will be put to a vote on Friday.
In the Bundestag, 523 deputies approved the bill to support the expansion of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF)-85 voted against and three abstained in the 620-seat chamber. Nine members were not present. All 17 countries that use the euro must ratify the commitment made in July to expand the powers of the EFSF and boost its bailout guarantees from 440 billion euros (£383 billion) to 780 billion euros. So far, 10 have approved the measure. As Europe's largest economy, Germany's commitment to the fund would rise from 123 billion euros to 211 billion.
Dissidents
Some members of Merkel's coalition had vowed to vote against the bill. But in the end, 315 deputies voted in favour, meaning that Merkel did not have to rely on opposition support to get the measure passed. The outcome of the vote was not in question, however, as the main opposition parties, the SPD and the Greens, indicated they would support the expansion of the fund. Before the vote, there was intense lobbying by Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and their coalition allies to pressure the handful of dissidents to get in line. (BBC)
