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The President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, spoke on Thursday, referring to the ruling of the German Constitutional Court that questioned the legitimacy of the extraordinary measures launched in 2015 (quantitative easing). The EU Court of Justice intervened on Friday in response to the many questions that have been asked, a note explains, after the ruling by the German Constitutional Court of May 5, 2020 on the PSPP program of the European Central Bank. The press release explains that, based on consolidated jurisprudence of the Court of Justice, a preliminary resolution issued by this Court obliges the national judge to resolve the controversy pending before him. Furthermore, to ensure the uniform application of Union law, only the Court of Justice, established for that purpose by the Member States, has jurisdiction to determine that an act of a Union institution is contrary to Union law. For his part, Lagarde recalled that the ECB is a European institution with jurisdiction over the euro area and subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Communities.
Union law
In its statement, the EU Court of Justice also explains that any divergence between the courts of the Member States regarding the validity of such acts could compromise the unity of the Union legal order and jeopardize legal certainty. Like other authorities in the Member States, national courts are obliged to ensure the full effectiveness of Union law. Only in this way can the equality of the Member States in the Union created by them be guaranteed. The problem raised by the German Constitutional Court is primarily legal, rather than economic. The ruling comes at a time when there is a strong debate in Europe about the common tools that the EU must adopt to allow all Member States to face the economic crisis caused by the spread of the coronavirus. On several occasions, a division has emerged between the focus of the northern and southern countries most affected by the pandemic.
Steinmeier’s appeal
Germany, after a somewhat ambiguous initial position, supported the need for a common European response to the crisis. German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated the need for solidarity even during the last European Council. On Friday it was German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who in Berlin in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of German capitulation in World War II recalled: Never again means never being alone again! We must keep Europe together, he said. As Europeans we must think, feel and act, because if we are in Europe, even in and after this pandemic, we do not stay together, we do not honor this May 8.
