ECJ: Judgment in Case C-270/12: United Kingdom v Parliament and Council

The ECJ issued a press release on the judgement above, which concerned the Article 28 ‘emergency powers’ to ban short selling available to ESMA under the 2012 Short Selling Regulation. The UK claimed that this were ultra vires, and commenced an action to have Article 28 annulled. The ECJ unexpectedly dismissed the UK’s action on every ground, holding that Article 28 does not exceed the powers granted to ESMA when that body was created, and is, furthermore, perfectly compatible with the FEU Treaty. An alternative argument that Article 114 TFEU was not the correct legal basis for adopting Article 28 was also rejected. According to the ESMA website, both it and the European Commission welcome the ECJ’s ruling.