Judicial review of complex assessments in the EMU: a bastion of technical discretion?

The powers granted to the Commission, the ECB, and independent regulatory authorities in the context of the financial crisis have increasingly been challenged in front of the CJEU. What standard of review is the Court applying to the measures resulting from the exercise of such powers? As they often include complex economic assessments, it could be expected that the Court carries out only a limited review. Traditionally, complex technical assessments have in fact been subject to light-touch scrutiny, grounded in the need to respect the decision-maker’s technical discretion. More recently, however, areas such as risk regulation and competition law, have witnessed an evolution of the space granted to technical discretion, leading to a stricter scrutiny of complex technical (scientific and economic) assessments. The paper sets out to investigate whether this is the case also in relation to the EMU. In particular, it inquires how the concept of technical discretion is framed by the Court in that context, on what grounds such discretion is granted to the EU administration and, in particular, whether the Court’s approach to complex assessment in the context of the EMU is following a similar trajectory of enhanced judicial control.