Pushing the EU to a Hamiltonian Moment: Germany's Court Ruling and the Need to Build a Fiscal Capacity Force a Constitutional Debate

Abstract

The recent ruling of the German Constitutional Court on the ECB was an economic and political bombshell. The deep controversy that resulted - within Germany and on a European scale - illustrates that the ambiguity surrounding the euro area’s legal order and architecture may have reached its limit. The ruling, combined with the plan to build a fiscal capacity to address the economic consequences of the coronavirus crisis, presents the EU with an important opportunity to complete and solidify the euro area.