Lawmakers from the Free Democratic Party, her junior coalition partner, have already spoken out against helping Greece.

Germany is examining means of helping Greece regain market confidence as Merkel prepares for a summit of EU leaders in Brussels tomorrow. EU law bars the European Central Bank or national central banks from bailing out EU countries through buying their debt or offering loans, the German parliament’s research unit said in a report published yesterday.
Merkel, facing rising unemployment and plummeting support for her three-party coalition, may face domestic over any attempt to bail out Greece. Lawmakers from the Free Democratic Party, her junior coalition partner, have already spoken out against helping Greece.
“The example of Greece shows where debt policy eventually leads: It leads in the end to bailouts, even at state level, now being in the realm of the possible,” Frank Schaeffler, deputy FDP finance spokesman, said in a speech to lawmakers in Berlin today. “There have to be structural changes to budget policy” in Greece and other EU states. “We don’t help the alcoholic by giving him another bottle of schnapps.”Germany is examining means of helping Greece regain market confidence as Merkel prepares for a summit of EU leaders in Brussels tomorrow. EU law bars the European Central Bank or national central banks from bailing out EU countries through buying their debt or offering loans, the German parliament’s research unit said in a report published yesterday.
Merkel, facing rising unemployment and plummeting support for her three-party coalition, may face domestic over any attempt to bail out Greece. Lawmakers from the Free Democratic Party, her junior coalition partner, have already spoken out against helping Greece.
“The example of Greece shows where debt policy eventually leads: It leads in the end to bailouts, even at state level, now being in the realm of the possible,” Frank Schaeffler, deputy FDP finance spokesman, said in a speech to lawmakers in Berlin today. “There have to be structural changes to budget policy” in Greece and other EU states. “We don’t help the alcoholic by giving him another bottle of schnapps.”

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition is studying a range of options because European Union rules on aid are more flexible than the government originally thought, according to the lawmaker who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the discussions were confidential.
Senior coalition members were briefed on the legal aspects of an EU member state providing financial help for another and were told to digest the information quickly, the lawmaker said. The German parliament must back any move to help Greece, he said.