EU Law - Economic Crisis Flashcards
Pringle v Ireland
Challenged ESM
Fourth stage in european semester
Country-specific recommendations
What is the central body of the ESM?
Board of Governors
Second stage in european semester
European Council decide EU guidelines for national policies
How are EU institutions central to ESM?
Com and ECB assess requests and terms for support, and ECB/NFMs decide terms of assistance through Memoranda of Understanding
Three cases challenging legality of the bailouts
Adedy v Council, Sindicato dos Bancarios and Gauweiler
What was the bailout to Ireland and Portugal provided on the basis of?
EFSM (ESM) using EU budget as collateral
What was the higher lending capacity of the ESM?
500 billion
What mechanism did the EMS create?
Exchange Rate Mechanism
ADEDY v Council case
Collective organisations said they had direct and individual concern, representing their members
What was the idea of the EMU built on?
EMU would complement internal market, as it generates the need for economic integration for the sake of economic rationality
What is the European semester?
A six-month cycle to coordinate and streamline economic/budgetary policies
What kind of geometry has been used in negotiating UK-EU Agreement, leading to ‘special status’ of UK?
Flexible and variable geometry of EU
What does Article 127(2) TFEU allow?
Non-EU countries can participate to some degree, although euro area NCBs play a stronger role
How are the members of the Executive Board appointed?
By European Council via QMV, on recommendation from CoM, after consulting EUP and Governing Council of ECB
What is the single currency part of as a larger political idea?
‘Ever closer union’ (Treaty of Maastricht)
Why was Article 126 TFEU vital?
Giving up right to print money in single currency means Members cannot control interest rates
What is the ECB committed to?
Controlling inflation
What body permits the participation of the Executive Board, without a vote?
General Council
What body in ECB is the ‘third decision-making body’?
General Council
What AG in Gauweiler suggested OMT compatible with Article 123?
AG Cruz Villalon
Why was it argued bailouts against democracy?
Taxpayer exposed to limitless liability against debts
Who suggested UK GDP could be 5.5% smaller by 2020 worst case and 2% by 2020 in more optimistic scenario if Brexit?
CBI
Decision 2011/199
Modified Article 136 TFEU to give Council some power in ESM
Who suggested some of the reforms given as ‘suggestions’ in the Memorandums of Understanding may be in breach of EU law/EU fundamental rights?
Kilipatrick
What is the prudential supervision task of ECB?
Supervise Member banking to make decisions in minimum reserve, risk, liquidity requirements and fines for non-compliance
ADEDY v council judgment
Rejected sufficient concern, and measures potentially in breach actually national rather than demanded by EU
How is there some political participation in ECB?
President of Council and Com can participate but no vote
National programmes under fiscal compact are authorised and monitored by who?
Com and Council
How did the CJEU answer in Pringle?
Economic policy so TFEU not breached, and not writing off debt as it is NEW debt
OMT policy survived German Constitutional Court challenge
OMT Decision
What suggests ECB limited to myopic vision of economy?
Fails to focus on economic growth, just price stability and controlling inflation
What committees can scrutinise supervisory activities of ECB?
EC committees
What two countries want to join Euro despite economic crisis?
Lithuania and Romania
What body is primarily an advisory and reporting body?
General Council
Two Regulations to identify ‘at risk’ Members for macroeconomic imbalances?
Regulation 1176/2011 and Reg 1174/2011
Who recommends members of Executive Board?
CoM
What Council adopted the Report on the EMU in the EC?
Madrid European Council
What is the European Currency Unit anchored in, de facto?
The German Mark
What could sovereign states always do under fiscal compact?
Pull out because international, but then probably failing to comply with other EU commitments that de facto refer to the Compact
Article 136 TFEU
Modified to give, among other things, power for Council to authorise ESM Treaty
When in particular did the ECB as a lender of last resort benefit private institutions and Gs?
2008 and 2012
What two countries negotiated Lisbon Treaty Protocols to opt out of the single currency?
UK and Denmark
Three prescriptions in Report on the EMU in the EC?
Complete liberalisation of capital movements, gradual introduction of single currency, exercise over national budget and coordinating national economic policies
What Treaty was originally set up to get around Article 123 and 125 TFEU?
European Financial Stability Facility
Membership of the General Council?
President and VP of Executive Board + governors of NCBs
What two countries struggled to keep in line with the EMS?
UK and Italy
What is the supreme decision-making body in ECB?
Governing Council
What was the first step towards an EMU?
European Monetary System
What is the Stability Pact now called?
Stability and Growth Pact
How did ECB respond to sovereign debt crisis?
If Members complied with new macroeconomic surveillance system, they would buy their debt
Sindicato dos Bancarios do Norte judgment
Use of prelim ruling procedure was fruitless as CJEU denied jurisdiction
To join the Euro, what does the Member need to satisfy?
Convergence criteria over period of 2 years
What did the OMT policy entail?
Gave ECB unlimited purchasing power of bonds, conditional on Gs complying with ESM programmes, including ‘Memoranda of Understanding’
In what Article was the coordination of national economic policies achieved?
Articles 120 - 121, and 128 TFEU
Three key tasks of ECB
Conduct EU monetary policy, prudential supervision and lender of last resort
What country joined Euro during economic crisis?
Estonia
What does the Stability Pact include?
Commitment to public deficit less than 3% GDP and public debt less than 60%
What two Members opted out of the fiscal compact?
UK and Czech Republic
How does european semester start?
Com annual growth survey for EU priorities