The European Commission (EC) on Wednesday launched proceedings against Poland over the October decision of the Polish Constitutional Court, which questioned the supremacy of European Union law over Polish law. Thus, according to the EU executive, Poland violates the principles of EU law and also the binding nature of the verdicts of the Court of Justice of the EU for all member states. The commission announced it in the press report.
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The EC stated that it “has serious doubts about the independence and impartiality” of the Polish Constitutional Court. “The European Union is a community of values and rights. Europeans’ rights under the treaties must be protected no matter where they live in the European Union, “said Paolo Gentiloni, the European Commissioner for Economic Affairs.
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Warsaw criticizes the Commission’s decision. “I do not agree with the EC’s statement that the Constitutional Court does not meet the requirements. The Commission misunderstands the division of competences between states and EU structures. ” responded Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. “It is an attack on the Polish constitution and sovereignty,” Polish Deputy Justice Minister Sebastian Kaleta said on Twitter.
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This is a provision in the Romanian Constitution that the CJEU allowed the national courts to bypass yesterday. We have a similar provision in the Polish constitution. Today, the European Commission is attacking Poland. The operation of subordinating the EU to constitutional courts is under way, i.e. the CJEU wants to judge the constitution itself! pic.twitter.com/xMVN5jQcKN
– Sebastian Kaleta (@sjkaleta) December 22, 2021
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In early October, the Polish Constitutional Court ruled that some articles of the basic EU treaties contradicted the Polish constitution. According to the judges, Poland’s accession to the EU and the signing of the EU treaties did not transfer control of its legal order to the Union. The head of the EU executive, Ursula von der Leyen, then responded by saying that Brussels would ensure compliance with EU law.
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The Commission said on Wednesday that the Polish verdict was “a breach of the general principles of autonomy, supremacy, effectiveness and uniform application of EU law”. According to the commission, the Polish Constitutional Court also violates the provisions of the EU treaty guaranteeing the country’s right to legal protection.
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The Commission has already conducted or is conducting a number of proceedings with Poland over laws related to the Polish judicial reform, which Brussels considers to be a threat to the independence of the judiciary. If Poland does not comply with the objections, the EC has the opportunity to go to an EU court, which can impose a fine for non-compliance. Warsaw has already been fined this year for not respecting the verdict of the EU court, which it still refuses to pay. The Commission may therefore suspend its disbursement of EU funds.
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After coming to power in 2015, the Polish Constitutional Court conquered the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party and the Commission itself does not consider it independent or legitimate. The president of the court that announced the EU finding is a close friend of PiS chief Jarosław Kaczyński.
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In Poland, after the Constitutional Court’s ruling on the supremacy of domestic law, the term “polexit”, ie the possibility of the country leaving the European Commission, began to be used. Leaders of the ruling PiS party have rejected such a possibility several times, but they repeat the words about Polish sovereignty and criticize the EU institutions.
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In addition to questioning the supremacy of European law, Poland, for example, ignores the May ruling of the EU Court of Justice in the Czech-Polish dispute over the effects of mining at the Turów mine. The court fined Poland half a million euros a day for failing to comply with the measure ordering the suspension of mining, but Warsaw does not pay it.
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