Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, has approved a proposal to significantly expand the scope and scale of the euro zone bail-out fund.
In the vote, the biggest test of Chancellor Angela Merkel's leadership since she took power six years ago, 523 deputies backed more powers for the fund, 85 voted against it and three abstained.
Germany was the 11th of 17 euro zone states to agree to beef up the €440 billion European Financial Stability Facility and hand it new powers, for example to buy bonds of struggling nations. The expansion also boosts the contribution of Germany to €211 billion. Cyprus later became the 12th country to back the beefed-up fund.
Reports said Merkel did not have to rely on the opposition to clear the legislation. There had been fears that a large backbench rebellion could touch off a political crisis and perhaps new elections in Europe's top economy.
Meanwhile, in Athens, auditors from the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund were meeting officials to decide whether to disburse €8 billion of crucial aid for Greece.
Euro zone finance ministers will decide on October 13 "whether the conditions are met for the next tranche to be disbursed," German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble said in the parliamentary debate.
