All's well that ends well? Crisis policy after the German Constitutional Court's ruling in Gauweiler

Abstract

Crisis policy of the ECB has been controversial on the judicial stage between the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) and the German Constitutional Court (FCC). While the controversy appears to be settled at this stage following the FCC's judgment in June 2016, disagreement between the courts persists in two regards. First, on the scope and intensity of judicial review of a potential future application of the OMT programme, the FCC gives less discretionary leeway to the ECB than the CJEU and thus exerts stricter judicial review. Second, there are legal boundaries on a “haircut” relinquishing parts of the debt of euro countries owed to Member States and the ECB. This article offers a legal analysis of the remaining controversies and the policy scope of the ECB.