P.Olen’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has defended a ruling by the Polish Constitutional Court in the European Parliament that calls into question the primacy of EU law. “The EU’s competencies have their limits, we can no longer remain silent when they are exceeded,” said Morawiecki on Tuesday in Strasbourg. The EU member states must have instruments to react to this development, said Morawiecki. He quoted from judgments of the Supreme Court in the Netherlands, the French Constitutional Council and the Federal Constitutional Court to support his position.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had previously threatened Poland with new procedures in the debate due to the questioning of EU law, which could also lead to the reduction of EU funds or the withdrawal of voting rights in EU decisions. “We cannot and we will not allow our common values to be jeopardized,” said von der Leyen. The Commission will act.
Morawiecki then said: “I do not agree that politicians want to blackmail Poland and threaten Poland.” He will not allow blackmail to be used as a political tool against EU member states. This is not a democratic approach. “If you want to turn the EU into a superstate without nationalities, then first ask all societies whether they agree.”
Controversial judgment of the Polish Constitutional Court
The background to the debate in the European Parliament is a ruling by the Polish Constitutional Court at the beginning of October, according to which parts of EU law are incompatible with Poland’s constitution. The EU Commission regards this decision as highly problematic because it could give the Polish government an excuse to ignore the unpleasant judgments of the ECJ.
The judgment calls into question the foundations of the European Union, criticized von der Leyen in parliament on Tuesday. “It is an immediate challenge to the unity of the European legal order. Only a common legal system enables equal rights, legal security, mutual trust between the member states and the resulting common policy. “Poland will always be” in the heart of Europe “, said von der Leyen at the end of her speech, probably also with a view to speculation about a” Polexit “.
After his speech, Morawiecki was criticized by many MPs. The chairman of the EPP group, Manfred Weber, accused him of seeing “rifts and strife in the European Union”. “You are making Europe weaker with this political approach,” he said. Russian President Vladimir Putin is particularly pleased about this. “Please stop doing that,” demanded Weber.
“Anyone who rejects the primacy of the European Court of Justice, who rejects the European Union as a legal community, who rejects the independence of the judiciary, is effectively leaving the European Union as a legal community,” emphasized the CSU politician.
The background to the debate in the Strasbourg Parliament was a ruling by the Polish Constitutional Court at the beginning of October, according to which parts of EU law are incompatible with Poland’s constitution. In addition, the national conservative government has been restructuring the judiciary for years. Critics see the independence of the judiciary at risk.
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