AXEL WEBER, Germany’s departing Bundesbank president, has put his country on a collision course with its euro zone partners by opposing a central part of proposals for resolving future sovereign debt crises.

Writing in the Financial Times, Mr Weber rejects the idea that European rescue funds should have the power to buy government bonds in the market – a suggestion that has been backed by the European Central Bank’s governing council, on which he sits.

He also opposes more favourable interest rates on lending to distressed countries.

Even in a crisis, the individual responsibility of countries for their finances should not be diminished, Mr Weber argues.

His comments highlight his isolation among euro zone policymakers but his views are in line with those of the German government.

Mr Weber this month unexpectedly pulled out of the race to succeed Jean-Claude Trichet when the ECB president’s eight-year non-renewable term expires at the end of October. He cited opposition to his views and his minority position within the ECB as reasons for his decision.

Last year, Mr Weber, who steps down as Bundesbank president on April 30th, publicly criticised the decision by the ECB to launch a euro zone government bond buying programme, which he said had created inflation risks by blurring monetary and fiscal policy.

Other ECB colleagues also argued the bond purchases should be temporary. In June, the ECB formally proposed that a future euro zone crisis management institution should be able to buy such bonds of struggling member states.

However, in his Financial Times article, Mr Weber argues that “existing instruments for short-term crisis resolution are adequate and . . . should not undergo significant adjustment”. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2011)