Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki addressed EU leaders, on Monday 18 October, and explained to them in a letter that although Poland remains “a loyal member” of the EU, he must warn them of the institutional danger of the Union becoming “a centrally managed organism run by institutions deprived of democratic control”.
“We ought to be anxious about the gradual transformation of the Union into an entity that would cease to be an alliance of free, equal and sovereign states, and instead become a single, centrally managed organism, run by institutions deprived of democratic control by the citizens of European countries. If we do not stop this phenomenon, all will feel its negative effects”, explained the Prime Minister on the eve of a trip to Strasbourg during which he will be invited to explain the approach of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal, which, on 7 October, challenged the principle of the primacy of European law (see EUROPE 12808/1).
“I am asking you to hear Polish arguments, to refer to them and to be open to dialogue”, he wrote, ready to have this conversation this week in “Strasbourg and Brussels”, during the European Summit on 21-22 October.
“The principle of the primacy of EU law covers all legal acts up to the level of statutory rank in the areas of Union competence. This principle, however, is not unlimited”, he also wrote. “In every country, the Constitution retains its primacy. The assessment of where the border lies can only be made by the courts – both the Court of Justice of the European Union and our national constitutional courts. Each of them is the ‘guardian of the constitution’, which ultimately decides on the legality and validity of the norms applied in a given territory”, Mr Morawiecki continued, stressing also that “attempts to extend (EU) competences cannot be accepted”.
On Monday 18 October, the European Commission said it was still waiting for the reasoning of the Polish Tribunal ruling to be published before finalising its analysis and proposing initial courses of action.
The European Parliament demands action
The Greens/EFA group, on 18 October in Strasbourg, called again for decisive action against the Polish government, demanding “full implementation of the Court of Justice of the EU rulings”, said German MEP Terry Reintke at a press briefing attended by several Polish judges.
They detailed the unravelling of the principles of independence and impartiality of justice in the country and expressed their expectations.
“We, the Polish judges, expect the EU to defend us, to defend the independence and impartiality of Polish judges and, for the time being, we are disappointed by the slow response and disillusioned by the inadequacy of the answers”, testified Urszula Żółtak, Paweł Juszczyszyn, Dariusz Mazur or Michal Wawrykiewicz, among others.
Link to the letter: https://bit.ly/3jd1uqh (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)