The Polish court rules over the EU. What they are really doing is moving towards the union’s exit door, the expert believes.
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Warsaw breaks hands with Brussels. Yet again.
From the Polish capital, it is claimed that parts of EU legislation should be subordinated to Polish. This was the conclusion of Poland’s highest court body in a ruling on Thursday.
It has provoked reactions from both the EU and the political opposition in Poland. Opposition politician Borys Budka fears a “pole exit”. The government denies this. Poland’s ruling party PiS, which governs the judiciary, says the constitution trumps everything. They believe that European regulations must comply with it.
A sleeping pillow
– What the ruling party is really saying is that they should never become a member of the EU.
This is how Malgorzata Agnieszka Cyndecka interprets the situation. She is an associate professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Bergen, researches EU / EEA rules and is herself Polish.
She believes the ruling party shows opposition to being an EU member without saying so explicitly. It is a sleeping pillow for a real desire to sign up, the researcher believes.
– The government would like to have courts that are loyal to their party. They appoint judges they themselves are comfortable with and who they can control, says Cyndecka to Aftenposten.
Therefore, they will not accept chief judges from the EU, she believes.
–Requires Poland to comply
The head of the European Commission demands that Poland comply. EU legal rules take precedence over Polish national court decisions, claims Ursula van der Leyen.
On Friday, Van der Leyen called the EU a community of values and laws and said the union would uphold the basic principles of the European Court of Justice’s precedence.
“This is what the EU’s 450 million people expect,” she said.
The governing party Law and Justice (PiS) has previously provoked the EU by challenging values such as freedom of the press, LGBT rights and women’s rights.
– Women in Poland are in an incredibly difficult situation now. The country plans to tighten the abortion law further. It will be completely Texas conditions, says researcher Cyndecka.
Reactions are also strong in the European Parliament.
– The primacy of EU law must be indisputable. Breaking it means challenging one of the basic principles of our union, says European Parliament President David Sassoli. He asks the European Commission to do “what is necessary”.
– It’s very serious. There is a risk of a de facto withdrawal from Poland, says France’s EU Minister Clement Beaune.
He adds that he does not want Poland to leave the union, but emphasizes that the ruling is an attack on the EU.
Overrides courts and elections
– How likely do you think a pole exit is?
– It is very difficult to say. The question is who in that case will take the decisive step, whether it is the EU, or whether they want to say thank you for themselves, researcher Cyndecka answers Aftenposten.
An alternative is the Polish population put off by the government, she believes.
– But it is difficult to say how easy it is. PiS has taken over the Supreme Court, which decides whether the elections are valid, she says.
EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders says he will read the court’s ruling in detail. At a press conference on Thursday night, he announced that the EU may implement measures against Poland in a few days or weeks, but without saying anything specific about what the commission will do.
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