A European Central Bank bond-buying plan crafted at the height of the euro zone crisis is in line with European law, according to the European Court of Justice.

The judgment is a milestone in a long-running dispute about printing money and the limits of central bank powers between the ECB and sceptics in Germany.

The verdict is a massive victory for the ECB.

Europe’s top court was responding to legal action by a 35,000-strong group of sceptics from Germany including politicians and academics, who had sought to dismantle the bond-buying scheme created in 2012, but never used.