The Euro Group and judicial protection: Has the Court of Justice created a loophole?

Abstract

The Court of Justice made legal history in Ledra Advertising when it found that the EU could incur non-contractual liability even for acts that formally fell within the intergovernmental sphere. In Chrysostomides, however, by ruling that the Euro Group is not an EU ‘institution’, the Court has made it largely impossible for individuals to obtain judicial protection. The decisions of the Council that give effect to agreements in the Euro Group can be drafted in innocuous and general language, minimizing or even expunging any liability. The powers of the Commission to act against such agreements in the Euro Group are also unclear and probably non-existent.