Professor Kenneth Armstrong's blog post on EUtopia Law 'Pringle has his chips'.
'The Court of Justice has delivered its much anticipated ruling in the challenge brought by Thomas Pringle to the legal provisions establishing the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). In dismissing the challenge, the European Court of Justice – convened as a Full Court of all twenty-seven judges – became the latest court to deal with the legal fall-out from the Eurozone crisis. Constitutional challenges in national courts, including Germany and Estonia, have, this far failed to create significant legal obstacles to the structures put in place by EU states in their attempt to manage the crisis and to provide financial support to Eurozone states.
Although the challenge before the CJEU failed, the Court reiterated that while Member States are free to establish mechanisms like the ESM outside of the structures of the EU treaties, the exercise of their powers through such structures must be consistent with and not incompatible with their continuing obligations under EU law.
The challenge turned on three main questions: (1) had there been an improper use of the simplified revision procedure (introduced by the Lisbon Treaty) to adopt a European Council Decision amending the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) to make provision for a stability mechanism; (2) was the ESM Treaty in conflict with the obligations of the Member States and EU institutions under the EU treaties; (3) was the entry into force of the ESM Treaty dependent upon the ratification and entry into force of the TFEU treaty amendment? Read the full article on EUtopia Law.