Judicialization of Economic and Monetary Union: between a rock and a soft place?

  • Nuno Albuquerque Matos Universidad Católica Portuguesa, Global School of Law, Portugal
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18543/ced-65-2021pp73-106
Keywords: Economic and Monetary Union, monetary policy, ultra vires, Gauweiller, Weiss

Abstract

The European Central Bank has been active since the sovereign debt crisis that struck European Union Member States by putting in place several asset-purchasing programmes such as Outright Monetary Transactions and Public Sector Purchase Programme. As much as these decisions have proven the pivotal importance of this institution within the monetary union, they have also spurred controversy on potentially having exceeded the competences attributed to the Union. The german federal constitutional court heard challenges to both and requested the Court of Justice to decide on their validity within the framework of a preliminary ruling. The decision of the former court to declare the Public Sector Purchase Programme ultra vires —in this way countering the preliminary ruling decision— as well as its argumentation could produce many institutional consequences to both the European Central Bank and Court of Justice of the European Union. Finally, it has shown the limits of European Union integration and will inevitably propel discussions on which way to go in the future: it is time for this discussion to come out from courtrooms into the public sphere.

Received:  11 November 2020
Accepted: 26 May 2021

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Author Biography

Nuno Albuquerque Matos, Universidad Católica Portuguesa, Global School of Law, Portugal

Bachelor in Law and a Master degree in EU law from the University of Coimbra where he also undertook post-graduate studies in EU competition and banking law. PhD candidate at the Global School of Law of Portuguese Catholic University, in Lisbon. Legal adviser at the Bank of Portugal and guest lecturer at the Catholic University of Portugal. Author of publications (monograph, collective books and articles in specialized journals) in the fields of EU state aid law, competition law, EU governance and EU public finance.

Published
2021-09-23
How to Cite
Albuquerque Matos, Nuno. 2021. “Judicialization of Economic and Monetary Union: Between a Rock and a Soft Place?”. Deusto Journal of European Studies, no. 65 (September), 73-106. https://doi.org/10.18543/ced-65-2021pp73-106.
Issue
No. 65 (2021)
Section
Articles

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