Parliament on 23 March 2011. The commitment of the main opposition parties to the MoU was a requirement of the EU and the Eurogroup that is clearly underlined in the joint declaration of 8 April 2011, where it is stated that negotiations shall include those parties and calls for all political parties in Portugal to swiftly sign the MoU and confirm a new government in Parliament with the ability to fully adopt and implement the MoU. This declaration was made less than two months before Parliamentary elections in Portugal. Therefore, it may be regarded as an unlawful interference in the domestic affairs of the Portuguese State forbidden both by international law [Article 2 (7) of the United Nations Charter] and EU law [Article 4 (2) TUE]. XXXII Ecofin Press release 10231/11, available at http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/Ecofin/122047.pdf, where it is stated that ‘The EU will provide loans amounting to EUR 52 billion as part of a EUR 78 billion package of financial assistance, with EUR 26 billion respectively granted under the European Financial Stability Mechanism (EFSM) and the European Financial Stability Facility. The IMF will provide around EUR 26 billion under an Extended Fund Facility’. This press release is just another example of the lack of transparency of bailout procedures. The Ecofin cannot act (or speak) on behalf of a mechanism of financial assistance that only includes Eurogroup Member States (the EFSF). XXXIII This statement is included in the last part of footnote one of the MoU (http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/eu_borrower/mou/2011-05-18-mou-portugal_en.pdf). XXXIV A different path was taken in the second bailout to Greece that included financial support by the EFSF based on the conditions included in an autonomous memorandum signed on 1 March 2012 between the Commission and Greece (see http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/eu_borrower/mou/2012-03-01-greecemou_en.pdf). XXXV The original and updated versions of the MoUs are available at http://www.portugal.gov.pt/pt/osmnisterios/primeiro-ministro/secretarios-de-estado/secretario-de-estado-adjunto-do-primeiroministro/documentos-oficiais/memorandos.aspx. XXXVI Case 353/2012 (5 July 2012) (State Budget for 2012). All decisions from the Portuguese Constitutional Court are available in Portuguese at www.tribunalconstitucional.pt. XXXVII See article 1 (4) of Decision 2011/344/EU. This EU-leg of the bailout was missing in some of the Member State´s bailouts during the crisis. In Ledra, the Court of Justice rejected the qualification as EU law of the MoU adopted in a bailout requested by Cyprus to the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) (Cases C8/15 to C-10/95, Ledra, ECLI:EU:C:2016:701, at 54). The ESM was identified as an international agreement signed outside the EU legal framework (Advocate-General Whal, Cases C-8/15 to C-10/95, Ledra, ECLI:EU:C:2016:701, at 51). XXXVIII See Council Recommendation on the National Reform Programme 2012 of Portugal and delivering a Council opinion on the Stability Programme of Portugal, 2012-2016, of 6 July 2012, 11268/12, available at http://register.consilium.europa.eu/doc/srv?l=EN&f=ST%2011268%202012%20INIT, or Council Recommendation (COM) 566/2012, of 2 of October, 14238/12, available at http://register.consilium.europa.eu/doc/srv?l=EN&f=ST%2014238%202012%20INIT. XXXIX ECJ, Case 322/88, Grimaldi, EU:C:1989:646, at 18. XL ECJ, Case C-617/10, Fransson, EU:C:2013:280, at 21. XLI ECJ, Cases C-8/15 to C-10/95, Ledra, ECLI:EU:C:2016:701, at 59. XLII The original version of the MoU included pension cuts of around 445€ million in pensions (1.11) and savings of 195€ million in education (1.8) and 550€ million in the health-care system (1.10). XLIII In the pending Case T-531/14, Sotiropoulou, OJ C 351, the CFI will decide on a claim of a breach of the principles of conferral and subsidiarity in an action for damages brought against bailout Council decisions addressed to Greece. In 2010, the CFI rejected a similar action based on the applicants´ lack of direct concern within the meaning of the fourth paragraph of Article 263 TFEU. The Court considered, however, that the applicants had the possibility of attacking national implementing measures ‘before the national courts and, in the context of that dispute, arguing that the contested (EU law) acts are invalid, thus leading the national court to refer a question for a preliminary ruling to the Court of Justice’ (CFI, Case T-541/10, ADEDY, ECLI:EU:T:2012:626, at 87 and 90). XLIV ECJ, Case C-201/08, Plantanol, EU:C:2009:539, at 43. XLV ECJ, Case C-146/11, AS Pimix, ECLI:EU:C:2012:450, at 36. XLVI Very appropriately, the Portuguese chose the adjective “entroikado” (a new word) as the word-of-theyear for 2012 (see http://www.portoeditora.pt/imprensa/noticia/ver/portugueses-elegem-entroikado-comoa-palavra-do-ano-2012?id=6901). It means to be ‘forced to live under the conditions imposed by the Troika (team Except where otherwise noted content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons 2.5 Italy License E -128