[ad_1]
The German judgment on the purchase of ECB bonds raises questions that touch the core of European sovereignty. The rapid reaction of the President of the EU Commission is unusual and sends a clear signal on Europe Day.
After the controversial ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court last Tuesday on the European Central Bank (ECB), the president of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is now considering infringement proceedings against Germany. This arises from a letter from Leyens to the European green politician Sven Giegold, the Giegold posted on Twitter. “I take it very seriously,” says Saturday’s letter.
The quick reaction of the President of the EU Commission is unusual. It shows how serious von Leyen is in guaranteeing the sovereignty of the European Union, especially on Europe Day. On May 9, the 70th anniversary of the so-called Schumanns Declaration, in which the then French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman called for peace in Europe to be achieved through deeper economic and social integration of the states . This premise is now being questioned in some countries.
The fact that the EU Commission is examining infringement procedures against Germany also shows that the authority is trying to defend the European legal community from any attack. On Tuesday, the Federal Constitutional Court described parts of the European Central Bank’s bond purchase program as illegal and called for better control by the ECB. The court reversed a judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Communities. Brussels can see this as interference with the sovereignty of the European legal community. The European Parliament controls the ECB, and the Court of Justice of the European Communities (ECJ) is responsible for legal reviews. The German Bundesbank reports to the Bundestag, the Federal Constitutional Court can rule here.
The Federal Constitutional Court had criticized purchases of multi-million dollar government bonds by the ECB. Unlike the ECJ, the Karlsruhe judges decided that the central bank had exceeded its mandate. They called the ruling of the ECJ “objectively arbitrary” and “methodologically no longer justifiable.” Therefore, Giegold had asked the EU Commission to initiate an infringement procedure.
Von der Leyen, in his response to the MEP, confirmed that the German ruling is currently being analyzed in detail, but has already added: “On the basis of these findings, we are examining possible next steps, including infringement procedures.” The Constitutional Court ruling raised questions that touched the core of European sovereignty, the letter said. The Union’s monetary policy is an exclusive competence. EU law takes precedence over national law and ECJ judgments are binding on all national courts. “The last word on EU law always has the Court of Justice of the European Communities in Luxembourg,” wrote von der Leyen. The EU is a community of values and laws that the EU Commission will uphold and uphold at all times.
Giegold, a spokesman for the German Greens and chairman of the Greens on the European Parliament’s foreign exchange committee, said Saturday that he was not concerned by simple criticism of the Federal Constitutional Court. But the dispute between Karlsruhe and Luxembourg threatens the European legal community. Giegold is not alone in his scolding of judgment. European SPD policy Katarina Barley spoke at the Passauer Neue Presse of a fatal signal The European lawyer Franz Mayer compared the sentence with an “atomic bomb”.
[ad_2]
