Immediate EU legal action against Germany over decision of ECB bond court is unlikely

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Commission unlikely to start immediate legal action against Germany over the country's highest court ruling that the European Central Bank has exceeded its mandate with the purchase of bonds, officials of the European Union said on Monday. .

EU executive president Ursula von der Leyen raised the possibility of a trial on Sunday over the Constitutional Court decision last week which gave the ECB three months to justify the purchases bond as part of its Eurozone stimulus package or lose the Bundesbank as a participant.

But EU officials have said that the Commission, which has said that EU law takes precedence over national regulations, needs time to weigh the foundations of any legal action and is careful not to undermine the independence of the German Constitutional Court.

"We are seized of the trial of a national court and the highest court in Germany. Therefore, this raises the question of the independence of the judiciary. Therefore, we must be very careful when we are considering whether or not to initiate an offense. " officials said.

Violations are legal cases that the Commission can take to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) if the Brussels-based executive finds that a member state violates the law of the land. ; EU. The court can order a nation to make amends or face heavy fines.

Bringing Germany to the CJEU, the highest court in the EU, would not in any way amount to reversing the decision of the German court, said EU officials.

"This final judgment (of the German Constitutional Court) cannot be changed. The question is therefore whether we launch an infringement procedure, what will he leave us?", Said the l & # 39; one of the EU officials.

Opening a lawsuit does not necessarily mean that a case ends in court, officials said.

But opening judicial proceedings would lead to "an important element of dialogue between the Commission and the Member State interested in what needs to be done," said one of them. ;them.

The timing of any legal action will also depend on the European Commission's decision to focus only on the decision of the German Constitutional Court or to initiate proceedings against the Bundesbank or the German government, officials said. EU.

The verdict of the Constitutional Court dealt an unprecedented 2,000 billion euro purchasing system that kept the eurozone in one piece after its debt crisis, but which, according to critics, flooded the silver markets. cheap and encouraged excessive spending by some governments.