Le sfide dell’integrazione economica europea di fronte al Bundesverfassungsgericht: un confronto (ormai) ineludibile alla luce del caso NGEU

The essay analyses the Bundesverfassungsgericht’s case law about the European economic integration process, focusing on the NGEU judgment and highlighting its relevance and complexity. The author illustrates the steps marked by the Federal Constitutional Court in its interim decision of 15 April 2021, by which the Court rejected an application for a preliminary injunction directed against the Act Ratifying the EU Own Resources Decision. In particular, the decision, taking into account the protection of the budgetary sovereignty of the German Parliament and the safeguarding of the Parliament’s overall budgetary responsibility, stated that the cost of blocking the ratification process far exceeds the risks, including for the international reputation of the German Government. In doing so, the Court opened the door to the NGEU, a 750 billion Euro temporary stimulus instrument, which represents Europe’s economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic