German government says still sure bailout fund is constitutional

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government said on Monday it remains convinced that the euro zone's new bailout fund is compatible with the country's constitution despite a new complaint filed by a German lawmaker.

Germany's Constitutional Court based in Karlsruhe will rule on Wednesday on whether the bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), can go ahead.

"We as the federal government are convinced the ESM is in line with the constitution. We have made this case at the court in Karlsruhe," government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a regular news conference.

At the weekend, a eurosceptic member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling conservatives, Peter Gauweiler, lodged a complaint with the court over the European Central Bank's decision to buy bonds of struggling euro zone states, a move that angered Germans unhappy about bailouts.

"Nothing has changed (because of the latest complaint). We also believe that nothing has changed in substance. That is the government's position," said Seibert.

(Reporting by Michelle Martin and Stephen Brown, writing by Gareth Jones)