The German constitutional court said doubts about the ultimate effects of the policy had persuaded it to set aside fears that the ECB's plan went beyond its remit and could result in taxpayers in richer countries subsidising poorer states.
Passing the decision to the European court of justice, the German judges said it may be possible for the ECB to give countries on the edge of bankruptcy funds through its outright monetary transactions (OMT) policy without breaching its rules. The European court is expected to rubber-stamp the policy.
The policy, announced by ECB chief Mario Draghi in August 2012, allows the central bank to buy up unlimited amounts of the sovereign debt of crisis-ridden countries.
While it has not so far been put into action, its mere existence has defused fears of an imminent break-up of the eurozone, and as such has proved the most effective tool in calming the crisis.
Eighteen months ago the German court backed two other eurozone crisis tools – the €500m (£415m) European stability mechanism bailout fund and the European fiscal pact.
Friday's move by the German court was widely seen as a way to dodge a decision that had become highly charged over the last year.
The constitutional court had agreed to rule on the OMT under pressure from eurosceptics, who want to impose a German veto on "under the counter" ECB subsidies.
Judges at the court, which is based in Karlsruhe, made an initial assessment backing the eurospectics and finding the OMT programme to be illegal – saying there were "important reasons to assume that it [the OMT programme] exceeds the ECB's monetary policy mandate and thus infringes the powers of the member states".
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