Hogan: Brussels will ensure ‘supremacy’ of EU law after German ruling

A German court dismissed a CJEU decision on the ECB’s bond purchasing programs.

Brussels will do “everything to ensure” the supremacy of EU law, European Commissioner for Trade Phil Hogan said Wednesday, responding to a shock ruling by Germany’s Constitutional Court.

The Karlsruhe court on Tuesday dismissed a 2018 decision from the Court of Justice of the European Union allowing one of the European Central Bank’s bond purchasing programs. It ordered Germany’s Bundesbank to withdraw from the program unless the ECB could provide good reason why the move had not been beyond its powers.

The Karlsruhe decision is a serious threat to the principle, enshrined in EU treaties, that EU law and CJEU judgments trump national law.

When asked about this, Hogan said: “The answer to that is Germany are signatory to the European treaties, where the supremacy of European law supersedes national law, and that’s the position.”

“I can assure you that the European Commission as the guardian of the European treaties will be doing everything to ensure that the European Court of Justice and the legal adjudication of matters at the European level continue to be understood by every member state that they supersede national law,” Hogan said at a video event with the Institute of International and European Affairs, a think tank.

Berlin has not yet publicly reacted to the ruling, but Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a closed-doors meeting with party officials that the ruling had “institutional” relevance, warning that the court had to a certain extent opposed the CJEU, German press agency DPA reported.