The European Commission may start proceedings against Germany in connection with the decision of the German constitutional court on 5 may on the partial inconsistency of actions of the European Central Bank the basic law of this country, reads the statement of the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
"We analyze the decision of the constitutional court in Germany to study the likely next steps, including the possibility of procedure violations (of EU agreements)," the document reads.
This procedure involves the notification by the EC on the likely violation of European law to which the state concerned shall reply within two months to rectify the situation. If the EC finds that the state failed to comply with the norms of the European law, start formal procedure. EC sends a reasoned opinion to eliminate violations within the prescribed period. Next is the judicial procedure by which the state may be required to pay a certain amount.
The European court of justice in Luxembourg ruled on may 8 that he is the only authority that can assess the conformity of the actions of EU institutions to European law. The European court noted that courts in EU countries must guarantee the observance of European law.
In turn, von der Leyen stressed that European law prevails over national, and the decisions of the EU Court of justice are binding on national courts.
"the Task of the European Commission to support the proper functioning of the Euro system and the European legal system", – said the Chairman of the EC.
On Tuesday the German constitutional court ruled that the quantitative easing program of the European Union partly violates the basic law of the country. Now the ECB must within three months to prove "proportionality" of the program, otherwise, the Central Bank of Germany will not be able to participate in it.
The ECB implements the so-called quantitative easing (the official name – the expanded asset purchase program), under which securities are purchased from the private and public sector. It was initiated in March 2015 with the aim to accelerate inflation to the targeted 2%.
