The ECB’s public sector securities purchase programmes: time for a final EU (legal) assessment?

The contribution revisits the three landmark decisions of the European Court of Justice in Pringle, Gauweiler and Others, and Weiss and Others that mainly address the delineation of monetary and economic policy in the European Economic and
Monetary Union and the scope of judicial review of monetary policy decisions, with the aim of assessing the significance of these decisions for the legal evaluation of current and future public sector securities purchase programmes, such as the
recently completed Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) and the Transmission Protection Instrument (TPI). What is argued is that despite the undeniable significance of these decisions, they fall short of providing an irrefutable
(legal) guide to assessing the nature and legality of current and future public sector securities purchase programmes, mainly when it comes to determining the monetary policy nature of a measure and the applicable standard of review of its
proportionality.