After the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders (see EUROPE 12807/1), it was the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who, on Friday 8 October. expressed her “grave concern” about the decision of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal, handed down the day before, challenging the primacy of European law.
“I am deeply concerned about the ruling of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal. I have asked the Commission services to analyse it thoroughly and quickly. On this basis, we will decide on the next steps”, said the President, adding that “the EU is a community of values and laws”.
“We will uphold the founding principles of our Union’s legal order”, she added, whose “top priority is to ensure that the rights of Polish citizens are protected and that they enjoy the benefits of EU membership, like all citizens of our Union”.
On Thursday, the Polish Constitutional Tribunal challenged, among other things, Articles 1 and 19 of the Treaty on Integration and the role of the Court of Justice of the EU. While the decision has yet to be officially published by the Polish government to come into force, the Commission President stressed that the EU treaties “are very clear. All judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union are binding on all authorities in the Member States, including national courts. European law takes precedence over national law, including constitutional provisions”. And “this is what all Member States have signed up to as members of the EU”.
On Friday morning, a number of European officials also took a stand on the Polish decision, following the example of Luxembourg’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean Asselborn, who said that Poland was “playing with fire”. “The primacy of European law is essential for the integration of Europe and living together in Europe. If this principle is broken, Europe as we know it, as it has been built with the Rome treaties, will cease to exist”, commented the minister.
In Paris, the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, described the decision as “extremely serious”. It is an “attack on the EU”, he added, deeming it “an eminently political issue, which is part of a long list of provocations against the EU”.
Berlin also reacted through Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. “Poland must apply EU laws in full, as it is part of the bloc”, he reacted, adding that “if a country decides politically to be part of the EU, it must ensure that the agreed rules are fully and completely applied”.
The Commission “will act”, but does not say when
Beyond the reactions, the Commission could not yet specify, on Friday, its next actions. But Commissioner Didier Reynders reiterated in the middle of the day that it would act with all available means, and this after an analysis of the decision which will be “rapid”.
For the Commissioner, it is an “unprecedented” situation that the EU is facing, with a country that openly questions “the treaties”. The situation is “unprecedented”, said Commission spokesperson Christian Wigand.
A situation which, according to the Commission, cannot be compared with the various rulings of the German Court in Karlsruhe. This year, the Commission launched an infringement procedure against Germany concerning the primacy of European law (see EUROPE 12737/26).
However, it took it almost a year to decide to do this. The Commissioner for Justice would not say how long it would take to analyse the Polish decision, but recalled that the Commission has a series of tools at its disposal, such as infringements, annual reports on the Rule of law and, from now on, the conditionality of EU funds. But again, he would not comment on the fate of the Polish recovery plan. “What is certain is that we will act, as we have done over the past months and weeks”.
European Parliament demands activation of conditionality
In the European Parliament, several voices were raised on 8 October to demand the activation of this conditionality and an urgent debate on the subject in plenary session. The day before, its president, David Sassoli, said that the verdict could not “remain without consequences. The primacy of European law must be undisputed. Violating it means challenging one of the founding principles of our Union”.
The Commission “should immediately apply the new Rule of law conditionality mechanism to Poland”, said the Chairs of Committees on Budgetary Control, Legal Affairs and Civil Liberties.
For Monika Hohlmeier (EPP, Germany), Chair of the Committee on Budgetary Control, “with this decision, Poland is unfortunately saying goodbye to our European legal order. If European legal acts are no longer accepted, it is questionable whether Poland can still profit from the enormous amounts of EU funding it currently receives”.
Adrián Vázquez Lázara (Renew Europe, Spain), Chair of the Committee on Legal Affairs, said it was “more urgent than ever to activate the Conditionality Regulation”.
For the Chair of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D, Spain), “this decision of a Constitutional Tribunal that is subordinate to the PiS Government crosses the final border of EU membership and violates the founding principles of EU Law”. “We demand that the Commission implements the Rule of law conditionality mechanism with immediate effect and launches infringement proceedings before the Court of Justice of the EU against Poland for breaching the Treaties and challenging the primacy of EU law”.
On 11 and 12 October, the Court of Justice will rule on the appeals lodged by Poland and Hungary on the new Conditionality Regulation of European funds. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)