Germany last week sought to re-establish that Berlin, not Brussels, holds supreme power within its own borders.
The ECB’s massive bond buying is no longer about controlling inflation, but amounts to explicit, treaty-busting bailouts, the German court has ruled.
The euro was supposed to generate stability and harmony. It has instead driven instability, division and deepening political tensions, both within and between nation states – as more productive northern economies have benefited from a relatively low currency, while southern members struggle with a currency which for them is far too high.
None of this is surprising to anyone who has objectively studied currency unions.
Liam Halligan Telegraph 9 May 2020
An independent court has attacked the legality of a ruling by another independent (and, with respect to EU law, superior) court, for the latter’s supposed failure to police an independent central bank.
The age-old question, “Who governs the governors?” (quis custodiet ipsos custodes?), has never been more relevant.
The EU is not a federal state; it relies on powers that member states delegate to it, more so in some domains than in others.
Viewed in the most favorable light, the German court is arguing that the CJEU’s failure to police the ECB left it with no choice but to ignore the CJEU’s exclusive powers to interpret EU treaty law and instead provide its own interpretation.
Katharina Pistor, Professor of Comparative Law at Columbia Law School
Project Syndicate 8 May 2020
The euro was supposed to generate stability and harmony. It has instead driven instability, division and deepening political tensions, both within and between nation states – as more productive northern economies have benefited from a relatively low currency, while southern members struggle with a currency which for them is far too high.
None of this is surprising to anyone who has objectively studied currency unions.
Liam Halligan Telegraph 9 May 2020
An independent court has attacked the legality of a ruling by another independent (and, with respect to EU law, superior) court, for the latter’s supposed failure to police an independent central bank.
The age-old question, “Who governs the governors?” (quis custodiet ipsos custodes?), has never been more relevant.
The EU is not a federal state; it relies on powers that member states delegate to it, more so in some domains than in others.
Viewed in the most favorable light, the German court is arguing that the CJEU’s failure to police the ECB left it with no choice but to ignore the CJEU’s exclusive powers to interpret EU treaty law and instead provide its own interpretation.
Katharina Pistor, Professor of Comparative Law at Columbia Law School
Project Syndicate 8 May 2020
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