CYIL 2014

EMIL RUFFER CYIL 5 ȍ2014Ȏ to stress that the Contracting Parties outside the Eurozone, which have ratified the TSCG, also have certain access to the Euro Summits. Under Art. 12(3) TSCG, they “ shall participate in discussions of Euro Summit meetings concerning competitiveness for the Contracting Parties, the modification of the global architecture of the euro area and the fundamental rules that will apply to it in the future, as well as, when appropriate and at least once a year, in discussions on specific issues of implementation of this Treaty ”. This ‘Being There’ seems to be the major benefit for the Member States currently outside the Eurozone and might serve as an incentive to accede to the TSCG. 18 The TSCG is primarily designed for the Eurozone members, but participation of the remaining Member States is not excluded (unlike in the case of the ESM Treaty). The non-Eurozone Contracting Parties, which have ratified the Fiscal Treaty, can choose one of the following options under Art. 14(5) TSCG: (i) either it will apply the TSCG only from its entry into the Eurozone ( “as from the date when the decision abrogating that derogation [Article 139(1) TFEU] or exemption [as referred to in Protocol (No 16) on certain provisions related to Denmark] takes effect” ); or (ii) it declares its intention to be bound at an earlier date by all or part of the provisions in Titles III and IV of the Fiscal Treaty. 19 4. Exits to intergovernmental avenues policed by the CJEU: the Pringle case Mr. Thomas Pringle, a member of the Irish Parliament, claimed before the Irish courts that the amendment of the TFEU by the Decision 2011/199 (adopted in the simplified revision procedure) was unlawful. He argued that the amendment entailed an alteration of the competences of the EU and was inconsistent with provisions of the founding Treaties (TEU/TFEU) concerning economic and monetary union and with general principles of EU law. Further, Mr. Pringle claimed that by ratifying, approving or accepting the ESM Treaty, Ireland would undertake obligations incompatible with those Treaties. Accordingly, the Supreme Court of Ireland decided to refer preliminary questions to the CJEU on the validity of Decision 2011/199 and on the compatibility of the ESM with EU law. In order to clear uncertainty as soon as possible, the President of 18 Such was the case of the Czech Republic under the current government, which in its resolution No. 189 of 14 March 2014 decided to accede to the TSCG according to its Art. 15. However, the government also decided to subject the accession to a three fifths (qualified/constitutional) majority vote in both chambers of the Czech Parliament (the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies). This procedure was chosen due to the alleged transfer of competences effected by the TSCG, despite the opposite advice from the Legal Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which claimed that there was no transfer of competences to the EU institutions and the simple majority vote in the Parliament would be sufficient. As a consequence, since the coalition government does not possess the qualified majority of 120 (out of 200) votes in the Chamber of Deputies, the ratification procedure is rather cumbersome and at the mercy of the opposition political parties and their support. 19 Option (i) was chosen by Denmark and Romania (application of Titles III and IV), as well as Bulgaria (application of Title III). Option (ii) – with attendance at the Euro Summits but no application of Title III and/or IV was chosen by Hungary, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden (and prospectively also the Czech Republic).

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