May 13, 2020 |
Today, the Commission presents a package of guidelines and recommendations to help Member States gradually lift travel restrictions and allow tourism businesses to reopen, after months of lockdown, while respecting necessary health precautions.
The Commission’s guidance aims to offer people the chance to get some well-needed rest, relaxation and fresh air. As soon as the health situation allows, people should be able to catch up with friends and family, in their own EU country or across borders, with all the safety and precautionary measures needed in place.
The package also aims to help the EU tourism sector recover from the pandemic, by supporting businesses and ensuring that Europe continues to be the number one destination for visitors.
The Commission’s Tourism and Transport package includes:
• An overall strategy towards recovery in 2020 and beyond;
• A common approach to restoring free movement and lifting restrictions at EU internal borders in a gradual and coordinated way;
• A framework to support the gradual re-establishment of transport whilst ensuring the safety of passengers and personnel;
• A recommendation which aims to make travel vouchers an attractive alternative to cash reimbursement for consumers;
• Criteria for restoring tourism activities safely and gradually and for developing health protocols for hospitality establishments such as hotels.
For tourists and travellers
The Commission is looking to give people the ability, confidence and safety to travel again with the following measures:
Safely restoring freedom of movement and lifting internal border controls:
Free movement and cross-border travel are key to tourism. As Member States manage to reduce the circulation of the virus, blanket restrictions to free movement should be replaced by more targeted measures. If a generalised lifting of restrictions is not justified by the health situation, the Commission proposes a phased and coordinated approach that starts by lifting restrictions between areas or Member States with sufficiently similar epidemiological situations. The approach must also be flexible, including the possibility to reintroduce certain measures if the epidemiological situation requires. Member States should act on the basis of the following 3 criteria:
(1) epidemiological, notably focusing on areas where situation is improving, based on guidance by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and using the regional map developed by the ECDC;(2) the ability to apply containment measures throughout the whole journey including at border crossings, including additional safeguards and measures where physical distancing may be difficult to ensure and(3) economic and social considerations, initially prioritising cross-border movement in key areas of activity and including personal reasons.
The principle of non-discrimination is of particular importance: when a Member State decides to allow travel into its territory or to specific regions and areas within its territory, it should do so in a non-discriminatory manner – allowing travel from all areas, regions or countries in the EU with similar epidemiological conditions. In the same vein, any restrictions must be lifted without discrimination, to all EU citizens and to all residents of that Member State regardless of their nationality, and should be applied to all parts of the Union in a similar epidemiological situation.
Restoring transport services across the EU while protecting the health of transport workers and passengers:
The guidelines present general principles for the safe and gradual restoration of passenger transport by air, rail, road and waterways. The guidelines put forth a series of recommendations, such as the need to limit contact between passengers and transport workers, and passengers themselves, reducing, where feasible, the density of passengers.
The guidelines also include indications on the use of personal protective equipment such as face masks and on adequate protocols in case passengers present coronavirus symptoms. The guidelines also make recommendations for each mode of transport and call for coordination among Member States in light of re-establishment of gradual connections between them.
Safely resuming tourism services:
The Commission sets out a common framework providing criteria to safely and gradually restore tourism activities and developing health protocols for hotels and other forms of accommodation, to protect the health of both guests and employees. These criteria include epidemiological evidence; sufficient health system capacity being in place for local people and tourists; robust surveillance and monitoring and testing capacity and contact tracing. These guidelines will allow people to safely stay at hotels, camping sites, Bed&Breakfasts or other holiday accommodation establishments, eat and drink at restaurants, bars and cafés and go to beaches and other leisure outdoor areas.
Ensuring cross-border interoperability of tracing apps:
Member States, with the support of the Commission, agreed on guidelines to ensure cross-border interoperability between tracing apps so that citizens can be warned of a potential infection with coronavirus also when they travel in the EU. This will guide developers working with national health authorities. Such tracing apps must be voluntary, transparent, temporary, cybersecure, using anonymised data, should rely on Bluetooth technology and be inter-operable across borders as well as across operating systems. Interoperability is crucial: EU citizens must be able to receive alerts of a possible infection in a secure and protected way, wherever they are in the EU, and whatever app they are using. The Commission is supporting Member States in finding the right solution, in line with the principles set out in the EU toolbox and the Commission guidance on data protection.
Making vouchers a more attractive option for consumers:
Under EU rules, travellers have the right to choose between vouchers or cash reimbursement for cancelled transport tickets (plane, train, bus/coach, and ferries) or package travel. While reaffirming this right, the Commission’s recommendation aims to ensure that vouchers become a viable and more attractive alternative to reimbursement for cancelled trips in the context of the current pandemic, which has also put heavy financial strains on travel operators. The voluntary vouchers should be protected against insolvency of the issuer, with a minimum validity period of 12 months, and be refundable after at most one year, if not redeemed. They should also provide passengers sufficient flexibility, should allow the passengers to travel on the same route under the same service conditions or the travellers to book a package travel contract with the same type of services or of equivalent quality. They should also be transferable to another traveller. 
For tourism businesses
The Commission aims to support Europe’s tourism sector by:
Ensuring liquidity for tourism businesses, in particular SMEs, through:
• Flexibility under State aid rules allowing Member States to introduce schemes, such as guarantee schemes for vouchers and further liquidity schemes, to support companies in the transport and travel sectors and to ensure that reimbursement claims caused by the coronavirus pandemic are satisfied. The schemes for vouchers can be approved by the Commission very rapidly, upon notification by the Member State concerned.• EU funding: EU continues providing immediate liquidity to businesses affected by the crisis through the Coronavirus Response Instrument Initiative, under shared management with Member States. In addition, the Commission has made available up to €8 billion in financing for 100,000 small businesses hit by the crisis, with the European Investment  Fund.
Saving jobs with up to €100 billion in financial relief from the SURE programme:
The SURE programme helps Member States cover the costs of national short-time work schemes and similar measures allowing companies to safeguard jobs. The Commission also supports partnerships between employment services, social partners and companies to facilitate reskilling, especially for seasonal workers.
Connecting citizens to local tourism offer, promoting local attractions and tourism and Europe as a safe tourist destination:
The Commission will work with Member States to promote a patronage voucher system under which customers can support their favourite hotels or restaurants. The Commission will also promote pan-European communication campaigns featuring Europe as a number one tourist destination. 
To complement short-term measures, the Commission will continue to work with Member States to promote sustainable tourism in line with the European Green Deal and encourage a digital transformation of tourism services to offer more choice, better allocation of resources and new ways of managing travel and tourist flows.
The Commission will organise a European tourism convention with EU institutions, the industry, regions, cities and other stakeholders to jointly build the future of a sustainable, innovative and resilient European tourism ecosystem – the ‘European Agenda for Tourism 2050′.
Members of the College said:
Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas, said: “Tourism is vital to the Single Market and its four freedoms and a key contributor to the EU’s economic, social and cultural way of life. It has also been deeply impacted by the measures needed to contain COVID-19. As our Member States gradually lift restrictive measures, we are putting in place the foundations for rebooting the tourism eco-system and Single Market in a safe, proportionate way that will prevent the resurgence of the virus within the EU, whilst safeguarding our way of life.”
Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, said: “Millions of SMEs and family -run businesses working in accommodation, restaurants, passenger transport and travel agencies risk bankruptcies and job losses – they urgently need to go back to work. We are helping European tourism get back on track while staying healthy and safe. Today we propose a common European approach to managing what will remain a difficult 2020 summer season, while preparing for a more sustainable and digital tourism ecosystem in the future.”
Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, said: “We know how much European citizens are looking forward to summer and to travel. Their huge sacrifices over the past months will make a cautious and gradual reopening possible – for now. But deconfinement and tourism will not be risk free as long as the virus circulates among us. We need to maintain vigilance, physical distancing and rigorous health precautions across the whole tourism and transport ecosystem to prevent further outbreaks as much as possible. We will not allow our efforts to be lost.”
Commissioner for Justice and Consumers, Didier Reynders, said: “European consumers can be reassured: The Commission will not downgrade their EU rights for reimbursement for cancelled travel. We recommend, however, making vouchers more attractive for those who chose this option. In the meantime, freedom of movement is the right European citizens cherish most. It is important to restore this right as soon as the circumstances allow it.”
Commissioner for Transport, Adina Vălean, said: “We aim to create safe conditions in every mode of transport, to the extent possible, both for people traveling and transport workers. As we re-establish connectivity, these guidelines will provide authorities and  stakeholders a standard framework. Our priority is to restore mobility as soon as possible, but only with clear provisions for safety and health.”
BACKGROUND:
Europe is home to a vibrant tourism ecosystem. Travel, transport, accommodation, food, recreation or culture, contribute to almost 10% of EU GDP and provide a key source of employment and income in numerous European regions. 267 million Europeans (62% of the population) make at least one private leisure trip per year and 78% of Europeans spend their holidays in their home country or another EU country.
The tourism ecosystem has also been one of the most affected by the heavy restrictions on movement and travel imposed in the wake of Coronavirus outbreak. The World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) foresees a 60% to 80% reduction in international arrivals, amounting to losses of between €840 and €1.100 billion in export revenues worldwide. In Europe, the summer is a crucial season for tourism:during an average summer season (June-August) residents of the EU make 385 million tourism trips and spend €190 billion. 
Today’s package follows the pathway set by the Joint European Roadmap published by the Commission on 14 April in cooperation with the European Council. The Roadmap provided a gradual approach to phasing-out containment measures introduced due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Compliments of the European Commission.

May 14, 2020 |

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU securities markets regulator, has published A STATEMENT supporting THE RECOMMENDATIONS issued by the General Board of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB).  These recommendations are part of a set of actions to address the Coronavirus emergency from a macroprudential perspective.

ESMA expresses its support to the ESRB Recommendation, which suggests that relevant NCAs across the European Union (EU), coordinated by ESMA, undertake focused supervisory engagement with investment funds that have significant exposures to less liquid assets, focusing on corporate debt and real estate. In this context, ESMA also welcomes the ESRB public communication around the importance of the timely use of liquidity management tools by investment funds and insurers with exposures to less liquid assets.
The ESRB action complements the ongoing ESMA coordination role in this area which has intensified in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Together with the ESAs and the NCAs, ESMA monitors developments in financial markets and is prepared to use its powers to ensure the orderly functioning of EU markets so that they benefit investors and support stability.
Compliments of the European Securities and Markets Authority.

Together with our members we are creating a Video series of first-hand accounts of the Pandemic’s impact, both personally & professionally.
We invite you to join us today for a first-hand look at the impact of the global shutdown following the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak – Today we are featuring Gerard Scheper, CEO, European Solar a EACCNY member.The questions we asked our members for this series are:1) What are some challenges you, personally and your organization have faced?
2) What are some of the most surprising (positive, innovative) responses/changes you have witnessed?
3) How will this experience change us going forward, as a society and in terms of how we do business?
  EACCNY has its finger on the pulse of how this worldwide pandemic is effecting companies and organizations on both sides of the Atlantic. EACC is where Americans & Europeans connect to do business.
Stay tuned for more on this series! We hope you enjoy these short vignettes our members and friends of the EACC created to share their experience.

May 8, 2020 |
Today the Commission invited Schengen Member States and Schengen Associated States to extend the temporary restriction on non-essential travel to the EU for another 30 days, until 15 June. While some EU and Schengen Associated States are taking preliminary steps towards easing the measures for fighting the spread of the pandemic, the situation remains fragile both in Europe and worldwide. This calls for continued measures at the external borders to reduce the risk of the disease spreading through travel to the EU. The lifting of travel restrictions should be phased: as underlined in the Joint European Roadmap on lifting containment measures, internal border controls will need to start being lifted gradually and in a coordinated manner before restrictions at the external borders can be relaxed in a second stage.
Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas, said: “The overall objective of limiting the spread of coronavirus via reduced social interaction remains. Despite progress in many European countries, the situation worldwide is very fragile. It is imperative that any action taken is gradual, with different measures being lifted in different phases.”
Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson underlined: “We need a phased and coordinated approach. Restoring the normal functioning of the Schengen area of free movement is our first objective as soon as the health situation allows it. Restrictions on free movement and internal border controls will need to be lifted gradually before we can remove restrictions at the external borders and guarantee access to the EU for non-EU residents for non-essential travel.”
The travel restriction, as well as the invitation to extend it, applies to the ‘EU+ area’, which includes all Schengen Member States (including Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, and Romania) and the 4 Schengen Associated States (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland) – 30 countries in total. The Commission calls for a continued coordinated approach to the prolongation, as action at the external borders can only be effective if implemented by all EU and Schengen States at all borders, with the same end date and in a uniform manner.
The Commission will continue to assist Member States in implementing the restriction on non-essential travel to the EU, including through regular videoconference meetings with Home Affairs Ministers. Any further prolongation of the travel restriction beyond 15 June 2020 would need to be assessed again, based on the evolution of the epidemiological situation.
Background
The Commission invited Heads of State or Government on 16 March 2020 to introduce a temporary restriction on non-essential travel to the EU for an initial period of 30 days. On 8 April, the Commission called for prolonging the travel restriction until 15 May. All EU Member States (except Ireland) and non-EU Schengen countries have since taken national decisions to implement and prolong this travel restriction.
To assist Member States, the Commission presented on 30 March 2020 guidance on how to implement the temporary travel restriction, facilitate repatriations from across the world, and deal with those compelled to stay in the EU longer than they are authorised to as a result of travel restrictions.
The travel restriction does not apply to EU citizens, citizens of non-EU Schengen countries and their family members, and non-EU nationals who are long-term residents in the EU for the purpose of returning home. In addition, to limit to the minimum the impact of the restriction on the functioning of our societies, Member States should not apply the restrictions to specific categories of travellers with an essential function or need. Essential staff, such as doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, researchers and experts helping to cope with the coronavirus, as well as persons carrying goods, frontier workers and seasonal agricultural workers, should also continue to be allowed to enter the EU.
Compliments of the European Commission.

Together with our members & friends we are creating a Video series of first-hand accounts of the Pandemic’s impact, both personally & professionally.
We invite you to join us today for a first-hand look at the impact of the global shutdown following the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak – Today we are featuring H.E. Olof Skoog, the Ambassador of the European Union to the United Nations a partner of the EACCNY.
The questions we asked our members for this series are:1) What are some challenges you, personally and your organization have faced?2) What are some of the most surprising (positive, innovative) responses/changes you have witnessed?3) How will this experience change us going forward, as a society and in terms of how we do business?

EACCNY has its finger on the pulse of how this worldwide pandemic is effecting companies and organizations on both sides of the Atlantic. EACC is where Americans & Europeans connect to do business.
Stay tuned for more on this series! We hope you enjoy these short vignettes our members and friends of the EACC created to share their experience.

Together with our members we are creating a Video series of first-hand accounts of the Pandemic’s impact, both personally & professionally.
We invite you to join us today for a first-hand look at the impact of the global shutdown following the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak – Today we are featuring Simon M. Kaye, CEO Jaguar Freight a EACCNY member.
The questions we asked our members for this series are:1) What are some challenges you, personally and your organization have faced?2) What are some of the most surprising (positive, innovative) responses/changes you have witnessed?3) How will this experience change us going forward, as a society and in terms of how we do business?

EACCNY has its finger on the pulse of how this worldwide pandemic is effecting companies and organizations on both sides of the Atlantic. EACC is where Americans & Europeans connect to do business.
Stay tuned for more on this series! We hope you enjoy these short vignettes our members and friends of the EACC created to share their experience.

May 11, 2020 |
The COVID-19 crisis is now widely seen as the greatest economic calamity since the Great Depression. In January, the IMF expected global income to grow 3 percent; it is now forecast to fall 3 percent, much worse than during the Great Recession of 2008-09. Behind this dire statistic is an even grimmer possibility: if past pandemics are any guide, the toll on poorer and vulnerable segments of society will be several times worse. Indeed, a recent poll of top economists found that the vast majority felt the COVID-19 pandemic will worsen inequality, in part through its disproportionate impact on low-skilled workers.
Our evidence supports concerns about the adverse distributional impacts of pandemics. We find that major epidemics in this century have raised income inequality and hurt employment prospects of those with only a basic education while scarcely affecting employment of people with advanced degrees.
CONTINUE READING…
AUTHORS:
• Davide Furceri, Prakash Loungani, and Jonathan D. Ostry
Compliments of the IMF.

May 8, 2020 | Blog post by Josep Borrell.
On 9 May, we mark Europe Day. The 70th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration offers a chance to reflect on what European integration means and on the EU’s role in the world. I want to use this blog post to do this from a personal angle, to set out why Europe as an idea and political project is worth defending.
Like for others, my personal journey has driven my political convictions.
My interest and commitment to the European idea – personally and professionally – date back to when I was awarded a scholarship at the age of 17, still under the Franco regime, for an essay on the prospects of Spain’s accession to what was then called the ‘European Common Market’. For me and my generation in Spain, living in a military dictatorship, Europe was a symbol of hope, progress, democracy, freedom and solidarity.
The first times I ever crossed my country’s border – something that was not as easy back then as it became later on – was for student summer jobs: working on a farm in Denmark, in the construction sector in Germany, in the hospitality business in Britain and harvesting grapes in France. Travelling across Europe gave me new perspectives, new freedoms and the ability to pursue new opportunities. 
After my studies at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, in the summer of 1969, I worked on a kibbutz and travelled all over Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, from the Golan Heights to Eilat. This was my first contact with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It served as a reminder of the tragic nature of human history and the need to escape from history. Also this is part of what motivates us Europeans.
The history of Europe is one of fighting over borders. Millions have died as a result. Borders are therefore the scars of history. The genius of the European integration idea was to say, we stop fighting over where the borders are and instead focus on making them irrelevant. In fact, the EU has become the world champions in eliminating borders. Unfortunately, there are today in many ways more walls again in the wider world than when the Berlin wall fell.
It is striking and painful to currently live in a Europe where borders are very relevant again, for they have been closed to people for over a month. There were and remain compelling reasons to do this. But I long for us all to return to open borders, to travel across Europe again, as soon as the circumstances allow.
The 70th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration is the moment to go back to first principles of what Europe is all about: peace and democracy, transcending history, international solidarity, open borders. We need to think and act big. As Schuman put it in his Declaration:
“World peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it.”
Schuman was not thinking small. Nor was he a prisoner of old ways of thinking. The project he launched has been spectacularly successful. It enabled an exhausted Europe in ruins to believe in itself and rise again. Growing from 6 members to 12, 15 to 27 today. From a coal and steel community to a common market, to a political Union with the ambition of becoming a true geo-political actor.
Yes, there are many reasons to be critical. We have to prove that solidarity is not an empty word and that we are serious about a Europe that protects. The first duty of government is to protect and the EU must be central to the fight against the coronavirus and the recovery. After a shaky start, the EU is now mobilised on all fronts. At the end of this crisis, the European ideal will be judged by citizens according to their answer to this simple question: “Did the European Union protect me?”.
In essence, Europe has to address three simultaneous challenges. First, we have to put health care as part of our security thinking and approach to European sovereignty. Second, to avert the collapse of our economies, we have to come up with a powerful, coordinated and imaginative response. And third, Europe has to lead a coordinated world effort to fight the pandemic. It is obvious that countries acting alone will not succeed.
For weeks now our governments have deliberately slowed down our economies to keep us safe. The severe economic effects are not the consequence of a health crisis, but of the actions taken to prevent one. This has never happened before in history. These unprecedented circumstances are affecting countries to a very different degree, which risks generating tensions inside Europe and around the world. The buzzwords today are health security, resilience, strategic autonomy, multilateralism and green recovery.
Today’s world is very different from the time of the Schuman Declaration. We have come a long way in 70 years, overcoming many crises.
How will the EU look in 70 years? This will depend on the decisions we take today.
As someone who has lived through European history with all its ups and downs, I am convinced we should think as big and as creatively as Schuman – and act in that spirit. 
Compliments of the Delegation of the European Union to the United States.

May 8, 2020 |
1. On 23 April 2020, Leaders endorsed the agreement by the Eurogroup in inclusive format of 9 April 2020 on the three important safety nets for workers, businesses and sovereigns, amounting to a package worth EUR 540 billion, and called for their operationalisation by the 1st June 2020. The Leaders also agreed to work towards establishing a Recovery Fund and tasked the Commission to analyse the exact needs and to urgently come up with a proposal that is commensurate with the challenge. The Eurogroup in an inclusive format will continue to closely monitor the economic situation and prepare the ground for a robust recovery.
2. The Eurogroup welcomes the efforts that are well underway in the Council on the SURE proposal, and in the EIB Governing Bodies on the establishment of the pan-European guarantee fund, to support European workers and businesses, and confirms the agreement to establish the ESM Pandemic Crisis Support for sovereigns.
3. We agreed today on the features and standardized terms of the Pandemic Crisis Support, available to all euro area Member States for amounts of 2% of the respective Member’s GDP as of end-2019, as a benchmark, to support domestic financing of direct and indirect healthcare, cure and prevention-related costs due to the COVID-19 crisis. We also welcomed the institutions’ preliminary assessments on debt sustainability, financing needs, financial stability risks, as well as on the eligibility criteria for accessing this instrument. We agree with the view of the institutions that all ESM Members meet the eligibility requirements to receive support under the Pandemic Crisis Support. Subject to the completion of national procedures, we expect the ESM Board of Governors to adopt a resolution confirming this well before the 1st of June 2020. The provisions of the ESM Treaty will be followed.
4. The Eurogroup recalls that the only requirement to access the credit line will be that euro area Member States requesting support would commit to use this credit line to support domestic financing of direct and indirect healthcare, cure and prevention related costs due to the COVID 19 crisis. This commitment will be detailed in an individual Pandemic Response Plan to be prepared on the basis of a template, for any facility granted under the Pandemic Crisis Support.
5. We agree that monitoring and surveillance should be commensurate with the nature of the symmetric shock caused by COVID-19 and proportionate with the features and use of the Pandemic Crisis Support, in line with the EU framework[1] and the relevant ESM guideline. We welcome the Commission’s intention to apply a streamlined reporting and monitoring framework, limited to the commitments detailed in the Pandemic Response Plan, as outlined in the letter of 7 May of Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis and Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni addressed to the President of the Eurogroup. The ESM will also implement its Early Warning System to ensure timely repayment of the Pandemic Crisis Support.
6. We agree with the ESM proposal on the common financial terms and conditions applicable to any facility granted under the Pandemic Crisis Support. This includes a maximum average maturity of 10 years for the loans and favourable pricing modalities adapted to the exceptional nature of this crisis[2].
7. The Eurogroup confirms that the Pandemic Crisis Support is unique given the widespread impact of the COVID-19 crisis on all ESM Members. Requests for Pandemic Crisis Support may be made until 31 December 2022. Upon a proposal by the ESM Managing Director, the ESM Board of Governors may decide by mutual agreement to adjust this deadline. The Managing Director proposal would be based on objective evidence on the course of the crisis. Afterwards, euro area Member States would remain committed to strengthen economic and financial fundamentals, consistent with the EU economic and fiscal coordination and surveillance frameworks, including any flexibility applied by the competent EU institutions.
8. The initial availability period for each facility granted under the Pandemic Crisis Support will be 12 months, which could be extended twice for 6 months, in accordance with the standard ESM framework for precautionary instruments.
9. Following a request under the Pandemic Crisis Support, institutions are expected to confirm the assessments at the shortest possible notice, and prepare, together with the authorities, the individual Pandemic Response Plan, based on the agreed template.
10. Subject to the completion of national procedures in respect of each request, the ESM governing bodies will approve the individual Pandemic Response Plans, individual decisions to grant financial assistance and the financial assistance facility agreements, in accordance with Article 13 of the ESM Treaty.
Compliments of the European Council.

May 8, 2020 | By John Bruton, and previously published in the Irish Independent 
The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) of Germany this week attacked one of the fundaments of the European Union, the primacy of Union law.  It is long settled practice that, in its field of operation, EU law has superiority over national law.
 The FCC of Germany has also rejected the primacy of decisions of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), over decisions of national courts, on the meaning of EU Treaties.
The FCC has furthermore attacked the independence from the politics of any one country, of the European Central Bank.  It instructed the German Bundestag and  the German government to ensure that the ECB did a new analysis of its bond buying programme in light of the principles it laid down. Failing that, the ECB bond buying in question should not be applied in Germany, it said.
 This is wrong. It is not the prerogative of any one EU country to instruct the ECB!
 I remember how, at the Dublin EU Summit of 1996 which I chaired, Helmut Kohl defended the independence of the soon to be created European Central Bank . He did not want member states to be able to pressurize it to pursue loose monetary policies.
 Now, A German Court wants a German government to interfere with the independence of the ECB, something that would have horrified Helmut Kohl.
The decision that  the German FCC announced this week was about the bond purchasing programme of the European Central Bank instituted by Mario Draghi to support the Euro in the wake of the 2008/10 economic crisis.  This bond buying programme was known as the PSPP.
The ECJ had found this PSPP programme to be legal under the EU Treaties, in a decision on 11 December 2018. The German Court this week flatly rejected this ECJ decision. It described it  as “untenable”.
It condemned it in the following terms;
“In its Judgment of 11 December 2018, the ECJ  held that the Decision of the ECB Governing Council on the PSPP and its subsequent amendments were still within the ambit of the ECB’s competences.
 This view manifestly fails to give consideration to the importance and scope of the principle of proportionality (Art. 5(1) second sentence and Art. 5(4) TEU) – which applies to the division of competences between the European Union and the Member States – and is simply untenable from a methodological perspective given that it completely disregards the actual economic policy effects of the programme”
 The German Court added that the PSPP bond buying programme of the ECB is “ultra vires (beyond its powers) and not to be applied in Germany” and instructed the German authorities to this effect.
 It even criticised the methodology of the ECJ in reaching its decisions. A remark designed to annoy.
The EU can only work if its laws are interpreted consistently in all 27 EU member states. If a German Supreme Court can overrule the ECJ interpretation of the EU Treaties, so also could the Hungarian Supreme Court or the Polish Supreme Court.
 Soon we could  have 27 different interpretations of what EU law meant, and the EU Single Market would  quickly disappear!
The German Court did say that it was not making a decision about the more recent bond buying programme, introduced in the wake of the Covid 19 outbreak, and which is supporting countries like Italy and Spain, hardest hit by Covid 19.
 But the logic of the German FCC’s  decision this week clearly implies that it would also find against that programme too when, as is likely, the same German litigants bring a case against the new programme before the German courts.
A major showdown is now inevitable, at a time of maximum vulnerability for the European economy.
A robust answer must be given by the EU institutions to the German Court.
The Inter governmental Conference, including the then German government, that finalised the Lisbon Treaty in 2007 said, when it promulgated that Treaty ;
“In accordance with the well settled case law of the EU Court of Justice, the Treaties and the law adopted by the Union on the basis of the Treaties, have primacy over the laws of Member States, under the conditions laid down by the said case law”.
The European Heads of Government, including Angela Merkel, must urgently reaffirm that declaration, and declare their unequivocal support for the ECJ decision of December 2018, and for the independence of the ECB from the authorities of Germany, and from those of  any other EU state.
By undermining the ECJ, the German Court is providing a precedent that could be used by semi authoritarian governments in some EU states, who do not like some EU decisions on matters like the rule of law , academic freedom, or media pluralism.
To be fair, the doctrine underlying the German Basic Law is one which has democracy, and respect for democratic procedures, at its centre. The German Federal Constitutional Court has frequently defended the democratic prerogatives of the German Federal State.
 It has, however, failed adequately to recognise that the EU is a democracy too.
 It has an elected Parliament, to which the ECB accounts for itself.
 That is where German concerns should be pursued, by political means, and not by mischief making court cases, decided by judges who set themselves above the European Union.
Compliments of John Bruton, the former EU Ambassador to the US and former Taoiseach.