Judgment_paragraph 90 · Alessandro Accorinti and Others v European Central Bank (T-79/13)

90In that regard, it should be borne in mind that, under the first indent of Article 18(1) of the Statute, ‘in order to achieve the objectives of the ESCB and to carry out its tasks, the ECB and the national central banks may’, in particular, ‘operate in the financial markets by buying and selling outright (spot and forward) … claims and marketable instruments, whether in euro or other currencies …’. It follows that the State bond buy-back scheme and, accordingly, the purchase of such bonds by the Eurosystem central banks form part of the basic tasks of the ESCB within the meaning of Article 127(1) and (2) TFEU, read with Article 282(1) TFEU, and that, more specifically, those measures are based on the authority provided for in the first indent of Article 18(1) of the Statute. It follows from the latter provision, moreover, that the sole purpose of the purchase by those central banks of State bonds on the secondary market is to achieve the objectives of the ESCB and to carry out its tasks, which precludes any reason not covered by that purpose, in particular the intention to obtain higher yields by investments, or even by speculative operations.