Merkel holds off calling for quick bailout ruling

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble last week urged Germany's Federal Constitutional Court not to delay a new permanent European bailout fund and budget discipline pact.

Schaeuble warned that any postponement to the country signing up to the measures could lead to market turmoil.

Parliament endorsed the treaties June 29, but President Joachim Gauck has held off signing them into law after complaints were filed with the court.

Merkel told German television ZDF Sunday that "the constitutional judges will take the time they believe they need."

She added that "it's not up to me to tell the Constitutional Court what to do. The Constitutional Court itself knows what it needs to do."