27 May 2020
Passive and Unequal: The Karlsruhe Vision for the Eurozone
The decision of the Bundesverfassungsgericht on the European Central Bank’s PSPP program did not come as a shock. All the critical arguments of that decision can be found explicitly or implicitly in the BVerfG’s referral to the Court of Justice of the EU on 18 July 2017. The real object of the decision of the BVerfG is the economic governance of the Eurozone or rather the big bet of European solidarity and European integration, in the midst of a pandemic even. Continue reading >>
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26 May 2020
National Courts Cannot Override CJEU Judgments
The European Union is a community based on the rule of law. The EU legal order is the backbone that holds the EU together, and the German Federal Constitutional Court’s ruling in Weiss poses a profound threat to that legal order. This threat goes far beyond the potential consequences of the Weiss ruling for European monetary policy. We write this statement to express our shared view that the German Court’s assertion that it can declare that a CJEU judgment “has no binding force in Germany” is untenable and must be forcefully rejected. We also write to challenge those versions of scholarship on constitutional pluralism and constitutional identity that would defend the authority of any national court to make such a ruling and that helped (even if unintentionally) encourage it to do so. Continue reading >>25 May 2020
The Bundesbank is under a legal obligation to ignore the PSPP Judgment of the Bundesverfassungsgericht
If there is a situation undermining the rule of law, then it is exactly this: The Bundesbank is under a legal obligation to ignore the PSPP Judgment of the Bundesverfassungsgericht (under EU law), and the Bundesbank is under a legal obligation to follow the PSPP Judgment of the Bundesverfassungsgericht (under German constitutional law). How has it come to this? Continue reading >>22 May 2020
Squaring the PSPP Circle
The PSPP judgment made a core problem of the European Union painfully visible as the supremacy of EU law clashed with national constitutional identity. There is, however, a possibility to square this circle: national apex courts could be empowered to issue ‘declarations of incompatibility’ under Article 4(2) TEU as an alternative to the disapplication of EU law. Continue reading >>21 May 2020
Law or Politics?
Why should a proportionality assessment of an instrument of monetary policy, which no one doubts is at least in part designed to increase money supply and combat deflation, examine that instrument’s effect on economic policy? There are two different answers—one under EU law, the other under German law. Continue reading >>21 May 2020
Herrschaftslegitimation und implizite Identitätskontrolle
Würde sich der Gerichtshof auf die Kritik des BVerfG konstruktiv einlassen und ein Kontrollniveau etablieren, das der demokratischen und rechtstaatlichen Struktur der Union wirklich gerecht wird, wäre er am Ende der eigentliche Gewinner. Auch Reservevorbehalte des BVerfG würden sich dann von selbst erledigen. Continue reading >>21 May 2020
Verfassungsrichter in der Defensive
Huber, Voßkuhle, Lenaerts – drei Richter des BVerfG bzw. EuGH haben sich in der Presse zu Wort gemeldet, um ihre jeweiligen Urteile im Streit um die Ultra-Vires-Entscheidung zu verteidigen. Diese Reaktionen sind nicht nur rechtlich problematisch, sie drohen auch genau das zu verspielen, was die Richter zu bewahren suchen: das öffentliche Vertrauen und ihre Autorität. Continue reading >>20 May 2020
From Dialogue to Trialogue
The current clash between the Federal Constitutional Court and the ECJ should not obscure the fact that none of the two courts fits the cliché they are often turned into. A view at some ECJ decisions regarding criminal law makes this clear. Nonetheless, the dynamic between the courts must change – maybe the European citizen can step in and offer help. Continue reading >>
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20 May 2020
When is a Court a Court?
The PSPP decision is not the first time a national court objected the CJEU. In Ajos, for example, the Danish Supreme Court rebelled against conform interpretation. The PSPP decision is nonetheless different: It is a challenge on a whole new level. Continue reading >>
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18 May 2020