Brussels, 23/11/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 27 November, the European Court of Justice will publish its ruling in Case C-370/12 on the validity of the European Stability Mechanism, the eurozone's new bailout fund, which has a lending capacity of €500 million and came on stream last month.
On 13 April 2012, a leftist MP in the Irish parliament, Thomas Pringle, appealed to the Irish High Court against the Irish government, Ireland itself and the Attorney General over the European Stability Mechanism (which he opposes). The case was sent to the Irish Supreme Court, which sent it on to the European Court of Justice over the validity of the ESM in light of the European treaties vis-à-vis procedure (simplified revision procedure) and the powers of the European Union. The Court of Justice will rule on the validity of Decision 2011/199/EU by the European Council (dated 25 March 2011) amending Article 136 of the treaty on the functioning of the European Union to allow the establishment of the ESM by eurozone nations and for the ESM to provide financial aid to eurozone nations in line with strict criteria; and will interpret a number of measures of the EU treaties to help the Irish Supreme Court decide whether, by signing and ratifying the treaty establishing the ESM, Ireland has assumed powers not allowed under the treaties.
Given the crucial importance of this ruling, the Court of Justice has decided that the case be examined in plenary (all twenty-seven judges) using the expedited procedure, as requested by the Irish Supreme Court. (FG/transl.fl)