The Weiss judgment and the principle of proportionality according to the Court of Luxembourg

Abstract

In the judgment here under discussion, the Court of Justice of the European Union uses the principle of proportionality in examining the Public Sector Purchase Programme (PSPP), now partly akin to the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP). The grounds of the judgment show a partially different implementation of the proportionality test from that developed by German legal dogmatics, as subsequently highlighted by the BVerfG in its decision of 5 May 2020. In particular, the CJEU took into account the exceptional context in which the PSPP was adopted, such as the sovereign debt crisis that exploded in Europe during the period 2010-2012, so that the Public Securities Purchase Programme could also be defined as an emergency monetary policy instrument.