Weiss and EU Union Banking Law. A Test for the Fundamental Principles of the Treaty

64 Pages Posted: 21 Jul 2020 Last revised: 24 Nov 2020

See all articles by Filippo Annunziata

Filippo Annunziata

Bocconi University - Department of Law; European Banking Institute; Ca Foscari University of Venice; Bocconi University - Baffi Carefin Centre; Frankfurt School of Finance & Management; EUSFIL Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence

Marco Lamandini

University of Bologna - Department of Business Law

David Ramos Muñoz

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: July 13, 2020

Abstract

The Weiss affair, which culminated in the BVerfG ruling of 5 May 2020, marks a break-up point in the long-standing dialogue between the BVerfG and the CJEU. The judges in Karlsruhe refused to follow the decision rendered by the CJUE in a preliminary ruling and admonished the German parliament and government to “work towards a proportionality analysis by the ECB” in relation to the so called “Public Sector Purchase Programme”. This paper claims that the arguments employed by the BVerfG in the Weiss judgement are quite similar to those employed in the Gauweiler and Landeskreditbank-Banking Union cases and that the Weiss judgment must therefore by read in conjunction with those precedents. Considering that background, it will be argued that the construction of the principles employed by the BVerfG for the judicial review of the EU acts have not undergone any substantial changes over time. The different outcome in the Weiss judgement rather depends on the fact that, in Weiss, the BVerfG believes that insufficient elements of explanation and justification were provided by the ECB and the CJEU. Therefore, the problem of the Weiss case ends up being a procedural question of statement of reasons. Eventually, it will be pointed out that these judgements show that a common standard for the judicial review of the ECB’s decision exists, although the intensity of the review still varies depending on whether the ECB decision concerns monetary policy or banking supervision and resolution.

Keywords: European Central Bank, German Constitutional Court, Court of Justice of the European Union, European Banking Union, EU, Ultra vires, proportionality, sovereign bonds, Weiss, Gauweiler, Landeskreditbank, statement of reasons

JEL Classification: G28, H63, H87, K49

Suggested Citation

Annunziata, Filippo and Annunziata, Filippo and Lamandini, Marco and Ramos Muñoz, David, Weiss and EU Union Banking Law. A Test for the Fundamental Principles of the Treaty (July 13, 2020). European Banking Institute Working Paper Series 2020 - no. 67, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3650430 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3650430

Filippo Annunziata (Contact Author)

Bocconi University - Department of Law ( email )

Via Roentgen, 1
Milan, Milan 20136
Italy

European Banking Institute ( email )

Frankfurt
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://ebi-europa.eu/bodies-of-ebi/academic-board/

Ca Foscari University of Venice ( email )

Dorsoduro 3246
Venice, Veneto 30123
Italy

Bocconi University - Baffi Carefin Centre ( email )

Via Roentgen 1
Milan
Italy

Frankfurt School of Finance & Management ( email )

Adickesallee 32-34
Frankfurt am Main, 60322
Germany

EUSFIL Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence ( email )

Italy

Marco Lamandini

University of Bologna - Department of Business Law ( email )

via San Giacomo, 3
Bologna, Bologna
Italy

HOME PAGE: http://www.diritto.unibo.it

David Ramos Muñoz

affiliation not provided to SSRN

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