On Friday 15 July, the Commission sent a reasoned opinion to Poland concerning the Polish Constitutional Tribunal and its judgments of 14 July 2021 and 7 October 2021, in which the Tribunal found that the provisions of the EU Treaties were incompatible with the Polish Constitution. The Commission had opened the infringement in December (see EUROPE 12859/4).
The Commission considers that the Polish Constitutional Tribunal “violated the general principles of autonomy, primacy, effectiveness, uniform application of Union law and binding effect of the judgments of the Court of Justice”, it explains again. Poland has also failed to fulfil its obligations due to irregularities in the appointment procedures of three judges in December 2015 and in the selection of the President in December 2016. “The Constitutional Tribunal no longer meets the requirement of an independent and impartial tribunal previously established by law”. Warsaw will have 2 months to respond.
In parallel, progress is being made on the disciplinary chamber of the Supreme Court, which was also condemned by the Court of Justice. Warsaw has pledged to dismantle it in order to obtain European stimulus funds. On 14 July, Warsaw announced that the disciplinary chamber had ceased its activities.
“Due to an amendment to the Supreme Court Act, the Disciplinary Chamber is concluding its work today”, a statement said. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)