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On Friday, the Court of Justice of the European Union ended the controversy raised by the ruling of the German Constitutional Court, which questioned the ECB’s debt purchase program.
In a one-paragraph response, the EU Supreme Court clarifies that it is “responsible for ensuring the uniform application of Union law” and therefore has “exclusive jurisdiction to declare that an act of an EU institution Union is contrary to Union law. “
The case dates back to 2017, when Germany’s constitutional court raised questions about the ECB’s debt purchase program launched in 2015 by Mario Draghi. At that time, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in favor of the program created by the ECB, which made it possible to face the financial crisis with the purchase of sovereign debt.
On Tuesday, the German court required the ECB to demonstrate, within three months, that the economic and budgetary impact assessment and monetary policy objectives are in accordance with the principle of proportionality and respect the law. European and German.
In the response issued this Friday, the EU’s supreme court declares that “in general, it must be remembered that, according to the established jurisprudence of the Court of Justice, a decision issued by this Court for a preliminary decision is binding on the national judge with respect to the settlement of the dispute in the main proceedings “.
“Differences between the courts of the Member States regarding the validity of such acts could undermine the unity of the Union legal order and undermine legal certainty,” he adds.
Heard by TSF, MEP Pedro Silva Pereira (PS) regrets that the German court has come “to attack one of the few things that has really worked to respond to crises, which the euro zone has faced, which is the expansionary monetary policy of the European Central Bank “.
“It was she who saved the eurozone and therefore questioning it is also highly irresponsible,” he says, stressing that the ruling of the court based in Karlsruhe, Germany, “is not final as to the legality of the Program of purchase of assets of the European Central Bank “.
MEP Paulo Rangel (PS) considers that “the argument” found in the German court ruling “strengthens those countries and / or governments that are against solidarity and risk-sharing solutions in the euro area”, For this reason, he considers that “it is necessary for the President of the Eurogroup to clearly establish what he thinks about this decision, because it is essential that operators in the market and even those countries that eventually want to take advantage of this decision realize (…) that the Eurogroup is not pressed in this way “.
“It is necessary to understand whether or not there will be repercussions here in the debt purchase program in question. They are 740 million euros,” he suggests, adding that it should be clear that “this will not change the correlation of forces that exists at the level of the so-called plan. recovery or recovery for the European economy. “
Silva Pereira believes that “the European Central Bank will find a way, without yielding to the pressure of the court and without recognizing the superior authority of the German court, to add arguments in relation to this asset purchase policy.”
In fact, the EU’s own court of justice confirms this Friday that “like the other authorities of the Member States, the national courts [também] they are obliged to guarantee the full effectiveness of Union law “, because” this is the only way to guarantee the equality of the Member States in the Union created by them “.
In December 2018, when it presented its decision, the European court considered the ECB’s action justified, arguing that the institution responsible for EU monetary policy “understands that the massive purchase of sovereign bonds facilitates access to useful financing for the expansion of economic activity, since it favors the reduction of real interest rates and encourages commercial banks to grant more loans. “
This Friday, to close the matter, the Court of Justice of the EU indicates that, as a general rule, “the services of the institution never comment on a decision of a national court”, and that the clarification is made in general terms, ” the institution to refrain from any other communication on this subject. “
Meanwhile, the EU Court of Justice released its 2019 Annual Judicial Activity Report on Friday, announcing “an unprecedented level” of 1905 cases brought before the Court of Justice and the General Court. In 2018, the court received 1,683
“On the other hand, the number of cases considered as concluded, which amounts to 1,739, is close to the historical level reached in 2018 with 1,769 cases concluded,” says the note sent to the newsrooms.
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