EU top official clashes with Polish PM over rule of law

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BRUSSELS – The European Union's apical authoritative locked horns Tuesday with Poland's premier minister, arguing that a caller ruling from the country's law tribunal challenging the supremacy of EU laws is simply a menace to the bloc's foundations and won't beryllium near unanswered.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Mateusz Morawiecki laid bare their differences of sentiment connected rule-of-law principles during a heated statement with EU lawmakers.

Von der Leyen accused Morawiecki of trying to tally distant and flight the statement connected the primacy of European law. He successful crook insisted that Poles are successful favour of the “power of the regularisation of law" and “don't judge successful blackmail oregon paternalistic attitudes" toward their country.

Relations betwixt Poland and the EU person been rocky for years and reached a caller debased earlier this period aft the tribunal ruled that Polish laws instrumentality precedence implicit those of the 27-nation bloc — which Poland joined successful 2004 — escalating lingering tensions implicit antiauthoritarian standards betwixt the country’s right-wing nationalist authorities and Brussels institutions.

In her introduction, Von der Leyen said the Polish ruling challenges “the unity of the European ineligible order” and undermines the extortion of judicial independence.

“The regularisation of instrumentality is the glue that binds our national together,” von der Leyen said.

At the bosom of the quality is the question of who should person the astir powerfulness wrong the 27-nation bloc — each idiosyncratic federation implicit its citizens oregon the EU institutions implicit the subordinate nations. It was the premier mover down the exit of Britain from the EU, and it has stirred passions successful respective eastbound and cardinal European nations similar Poland and Hungary.

The full thought down the EU is that a agreed beforehand volition marque the 27 nations a formidable powerfulness successful the world, portion they would beryllium bystanders arsenic idiosyncratic countries. But adjacent if subordinate states are blessed to spot that powerfulness utilized successful planetary relations, immoderate abhor it erstwhile it affects them.

Morawiecki described Poland arsenic a federation that is being intimidated and attacked by an EU whose apical tribunal issues rulings that purpose to instrumentality much and much powerfulness distant from its subordinate states. He insisted that the EU indispensable stay a national of sovereign states until the clip that each its members hold by pact to springiness up much of their ain nationalist powers.

“We are present seeing a creeping gyration taking spot by mode of verdicts of the European Court of Justice,” helium said.

Morawiecki defended his country’s stance that the highest instrumentality of Poland is the country’s constitution and that stands supra immoderate different law. He insisted that Poland abides by EU treaties and brushed disconnected remark from opponents of his authorities who fearfulness that the court’s ruling has enactment the state connected a way to a imaginable exit from the EU.

Morawiecki besides said helium sees treble standards successful the EU rulings connected Poland’s changes to its judiciary, noting that each state has its ain judicial system, with politicians electing judges successful immoderate cases.

The European Commission has respective options to effort to marque Warsaw comply with EU law, notably by continuing to clasp up the country’s entree to billions of euros successful European wealth to assistance revive its system successful the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We cannot and we volition not let our communal values to beryllium enactment astatine risk. The committee volition act," von der Leyen said.

The EU's enforcement limb tin besides commencement infringement procedures, oregon determine to activate a mechanics allowing the suspension of payments of EU wealth to a subordinate state breaching the principles of the regularisation of instrumentality successful a mode that affects the bloc's fund oregon fiscal interests.

A bulk of lawmakers urged the European Commission to trigger the mechanism, but respective EU countries are alternatively pleading for much dialog with Poland. EU leaders are expected to sermon the taxable aboriginal this week during a acme successful Brussels.

Von der Leyen said she is unfastened to compromise.

“I person ever been a proponent of dialog and I volition ever be," she said. “This is simply a concern that tin and indispensable beryllium resolved. And we privation a beardown Poland successful a agreed Europe."

The Polish tribunal bulk ruling — successful effect to a lawsuit brought by Morawiecki — said Poland’s EU rank did not springiness the European Court of Justice ultimate ineligible authorization and did not mean that Poland had shifted its ineligible sovereignty to the EU.

Morawiecki asked for the reappraisal aft the European Court of Justice ruled successful March that Poland’s caller regulations for appointing judges to the Supreme Court could interruption EU law. The ruling obliged Poland’s authorities to discontinue the rules that gave politicians power implicit judicial appointments. To date, Poland has not complied.

Last month, the European Commission asked the European Court of Justice to enforce regular fines connected Poland until it improves the functioning of the Polish Supreme Court and suspends the laws that were deemed to undermine judicial independence.

Morawiecki told EU lawmakers during the statement that a disputed disciplinary enclosure of Poland’s Supreme Court volition beryllium closed, due to the fact that it did not conscionable expectations, without offering a wide timeline.

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Raf Casert successful Brussels and Vanessa Gera and Monika Scislowska successful Warsaw contributed to this story.

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