The recent statement by the UK government that it is considering breaking the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement it signed with the EU only last year has dramatically increased the tension in the current discussions, and brought the prospect of no deal closer.
The German Constitutional Court’s ruling, in its judgment of 5 May, that the ECB has acted beyond its authority is much more than a technical assessment of the ECB’s bond-buying programmes. It is a legal and constitutional challenge to the principle of the supremacy of EU law over national law, and it is slowly dawning on people that the consequences for the EU are far from trivial.