2020-05-10 17:10 update: 2020-05-14, 16:56
Mateusz Morawiecki. Photo PAP/Wojciech Olkuśnik
Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has ruled that the EU Court of Justice (CJEU) does not have unlimited power, Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki was quoted as saying in an article on page one of Sunday's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) German daily.
The Polish prime minister stated that the German court's ruling of May 5 on the matter of bond purchases by the European Central Bank (ECB) is "one of the most important verdicts in the history of the European Union."
In line with Poland' Constitutional Tribunal, the German Federal Constitutional Court stood by the position that the CJEU does not have unlimited powers. Morawiecki told German journalists that the EU treaties were concluded by the member states and they define where the boundaries lie in the remits of EU institutions. Attempts to extend their scope are "arbitrary and unsafe for a state of law," Morawiecki said.
Without a system of division of powers, "all power, including that on the part of the judiciary, is arbitrary, unlimited, undemocratic power," the Polish PM argued.
The opposite opinion was expressed in FAZ by European Commission Vice-President Vera Jourova, who said the final word on the subject of European law would always rest with Luxembourg, the seat of the CJEU, and nowhere else.
In Jourova's view, CJEU rulings are binding on all national courts. She gave her assurance that EC lawyers are analysing the FCC's verdict in order to decide on the possible steps that could be taken. (PAP)
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