ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the European union (EU's) overarching legal framework through the lens of German constitutional jurisprudence - one of the most important national perspectives for a number of reasons. Germany is the EU's most populous state and one of its founding members. It is also one of the economically powerful and politically influential states in the EU, a status further cemented by the euro crisis. The judicial review follows from the idea that EU legal authority in Germany is derived from the Basic Law. This chapter illustrates the German Court has challenged the European Court of Justice (ECJ's) authority without ever usurping it, and disputed the ECJ's legal interpretations without ever rejecting them. The Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) case could realise this previously theoretical conflict. There is space for constructive ambiguity in the German Constitutional Court (GCC's) worded statement on the bond-buying programme. Despite this constitutional reconfiguration, the GCC has not so far substantially impeded the euro rescue policies.
