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
