“Judicial supremacism” German style: the judgment of the constitutional tribunal onthe public sector purchase programme

Abstract

This article provides a critical, contextual and comparative analysis of the judgment rendered by the German Federal Constitutional Tribunal on the 5^th of May 2020, in which it challenged the authority of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) and questioned the actions of the European Central Bank (ECB). To understand the decision, the authors examine the evolution of the role of the ECB within the economic governance of the Eurozone, with particular reference to the measures employed to purchase state bonds on secondary markets started as a result of the financial crisis. They focus on the corresponding jurisprudence of the CJEU, contested by the German Tribunal, and finally reflect on the conflicts between national law and supra – and international courts in light of the comparative and global panorama.