An Intentionalist Approach to the Distinction between Monetary and Economic Policies

This thesis investigates the necessity to draw a legal demarcation line between monetary policy and economic policy. While a distinction between monetary and economic policies makes no sense from an economic perspective, it has nonetheless been the subject of challenge on three occasions before the CJEU. Those judgments led the literature to consider that any legal distinction would either be “doomed to failure” or “arbitrary”. However, the recent judgment issued by the FCC, declaring ultra vires the PSPP and the Weiss and others judgment, put this legal issue at the heart of the European legal order. Consequently, this thesis aims to answer the following research question: In light of the intent of the authors of the Treaties, how should monetary and economic policies be legally distinguished to respect the principle of conferral?. Similarly to the CJEU in Weiss and others, this thesis employs an intentionalist methodology to answer this research question. More specifically, this thesis examines, in a chronological order, relevant documents that have been researched in the Historical Archives of the European Union to appreciate the intent of the authors of the Treaties. Based on a myriad of historical sources, this thesis finds that the intent of the authors of the Treaties is much more complex and paradoxical than has been claimed by the CJEU. Indeed, after examining the conceptualization of the single monetary policy, this historical analysis is confronted with the judgments issued by the CJEU in Pringle, Gauweiler, and Weiss and others. In essence, this thesis finds that the CJEU misperceived the intent of the authors of the Treaties. Additionally, by cautiously examining the written observations submitted by the parties to the proceedings, this thesis also sheds new lights on the reasoning of the Court. After considering the judgment issued by the FCC, this thesis examines the necessity to draw a legal demarcation line that would not be arbitrary. In that regard, and similarly to Council Regulation (EC) 3603/93, this thesis concludes by proposing to specify the intent of the authors of the Treaties by means of an act of secondary law.