Judgment_paragraph 114 · Alessandro Accorinti and Others v European Central Bank (T-79/13)

114It is sufficient to state that the argument put forward in support of this plea is particularly vague and succinct and largely overlaps with the argument put forward in support of the second and third pleas, with the consequence that the considerations set out in paragraphs 87 to 96 and 107 to 110 above apply, mutatis mutandis. In addition, that argument is intrinsically contradictory, in that it is intended to substantiate an infringement of Article 123 TFEU, read with Article 21 of the Statute. As the applicants themselves claim, the ECB’s conduct to which they take exception, in particular the conclusion of the exchange agreement of 15 February 2012, was intended to avoid the involvement of the Eurosystem central banks in the restructuring of the Greek public debt that would mean sacrificing a part of the value of the Greek bonds held in their respective portfolios. However, it should be observed that such unconditional involvement would have been specifically in danger of being classified as intervention having an effect equivalent to that of the direct purchase of State bonds by those central banks, which is prohibited by Article 123 TFEU.