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12 May 2020

POLITICO: German ECB board member rebukes national court over verdict


European Central Bank is ‘undeterred’ despite ruling from Germany, Isabel Schnabel says.

Only the EU’s Court of Justice has jurisdiction over the European Central Bank, Germany ECB board member Isabel Schnabel said.

Speaking to the Italian newspaper la Repubblica, Schnabel rebuked the German Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe for its verdict last week, which said the ECB overstepped its mandate by purchasing government bonds worth €2 trillion since 2015.

“The ECB is a European institution, meaning that the European Court of Justice has exclusive jurisdiction over the ECB and its actions,” Schnabel said in the interview published Monday.

She added, “As stressed by the ECB’s president [Christine Lagarde], we are undeterred in our willingness and ability to act. We will continue to conduct the [public sector purchase program] and the pandemic emergency purchase program, as well as our other monetary policy measures, in line with our mandate.”

Asked if the verdict from Karlsruhe posed a threat to the European institutions, Schnabel said, “It is not for me to judge the legal aspects of the verdict, but its implications can clearly go beyond the ECB. The primacy of EU law is key for the functioning of the European Union.”

She said that the ECB had taken swift and decisive action to respond to the coronavirus outbreak, which was necessary as Europe is “facing a very deep economic crisis.”

 

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