Macroscope | Euro-zone political divisions undermine ECB policy plans
Investors fear deep disagreements among the 25 governing council members may have damaged the bloc and the single currency irreparably
Ever since the euro-zone crisis escalated dramatically in the autumn of 2011, financial markets have been clamouring for a programme of large-scale government bond purchases by the European Central Bank aimed at restoring confidence in Europe's ailing economy.
After successive disappointments, the issue for investors is not whether the central bank has the gumption to act, but whether the deep disagreements among the 25 members of the ECB's governing council have caused irreparable damage to the bloc and the single currency.
Germany's influence looms large over the management of the euro-zone crisis - and particularly over the conduct of European monetary policy.
While Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank, has long been a staunch opponent of government bond-buying on the grounds that it blurs the lines between fiscal and monetary policy and, if unlimited in size, would be illegal under the European Union's core treaty, its government has been more pragmatic.
It even gave its blessing to the ECB's 2012 bond-buying programme, which was known as outright monetary transactions.
However, Berlin's stance on a large-scale stimulus programme for the euro zone has hardened significantly over the past few months, and can now best be described as "Bundesbank lite".