The European Commission holds Germany against a "violation of fundamental principles of EU law" and therefore initiated infringement proceedings on Wednesday.

It is directed against the ECB ruling in which the Federal Constitutional Court in May 2020 declared a bond purchase program of the European Central Bank and a ruling by the European Court of Justice confirming it to be ineffective.

For the first time, the Karlsruhe judges raised the charge that the ECB and the ECJ had acted “ultra vires”, that is, without authorization in the EU treaties.

Thomas Gutschker

Political correspondent for the European Union, NATO and the Benelux countries based in Brussels.

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    A spokesman for the EU Commission called this judgment a “dangerous precedent” which “could threaten the uniformity of Union law and open the way to a Europe à la carte”.

    "The last word on EU law is always spoken in Luxembourg," he continued.

    What the Commission expects from the Federal Government, it left open on Wednesday: “It is up to the Member State to identify possible solutions.” The spokesman said when asked, “Ultimately, a change in German law or a ruling by the European Court of Justice could be an important clarifying factor Role-play".

    He indicated that the Commission would consider bringing an action to the ECJ if Germany does not dispel the Commission's concerns in the preceding proceedings.

    Berlin has two months to react

    The addressee of the warning letter from Brussels is the Federal Government, which is now in the difficult position of having to decide whether to give priority to the Federal Constitutional Court or the European Court of Justice. In addition, it cannot and must not exert any influence on court decisions. The commission also expressly recognized the independence of the Federal Constitutional Court on Wednesday.

    In particular, she accuses Germany of disregarding "the principles of autonomy, priority, effectiveness and uniform application of Union law" and of not following the case law of the European Court of Justice. In this respect, she criticizes a violation of Article 267 of the EU Treaty, which stipulates that national courts refer disputes relating to European law to the ECJ for a preliminary ruling. The Federal Constitutional Court had done that once in this case, but then independently disregarded it. The Commission explains that it classifies the "ultra vires" reason given for this as a clear "breach of the principle of the primacy of EU law".

    Germany now has two months to respond to the objections of the EU Commission. If these are not resolved, the Commission can issue a reasoned opinion and request Germany to remedy the maladministration within a further period. If this does not happen, it can file an action with the European Court of Justice.