Wednesday December 22, 2021
Dispute over primacy of EU law
EU initiates infringement proceedings against Poland
The EU Commission ignites the next level of escalation in the legal dispute with Poland and initiates infringement proceedings against the country. Another lawsuit before the European Court of Justice is possible, as well as financial sanctions. The EU wants to make use of all powers.
The EU Commission is taking legal action against the country because of controversial judgments by the Polish Constitutional Court on the status of EU law. The Brussels authority initiated infringement proceedings this Wednesday, which could end with another lawsuit before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and ultimately with financial sanctions against Warsaw.
According to the EU Commission, the rulings of the Constitutional Court violate, among other things, the priority and the principle of uniform application of EU law and the binding effect of ECJ rulings. In addition, the Brussels authority expressed serious doubts about the independence and impartiality of the Constitutional Court.
Von der Leyen: EU law has priority
The background to the decision is, among other things, a ruling by the Constitutional Court from the beginning of October, according to which parts of EU law are incompatible with the Polish constitution. This calls into question a cornerstone of the European legal community. The Polish court had already ruled in July that the application of interim ECJ injunctions relating to the country’s judicial system was incompatible with Poland’s constitution.
Just one day after the October ruling, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made the position of her authority unmistakably clear: “EU law takes precedence over national law, including constitutional provisions. All EU member states have adopted this principle as members of the European Union prescribed. ” The EU Commission will “make use of all powers that the Treaties give us to enforce this principle”.
However, the national-conservative government in Warsaw does not want to recognize this fundamental primacy of EU law. The Polish ruling party PiS has been reorganizing the country’s judiciary for years, regardless of international criticism, thereby putting judges under pressure. Because of the reforms, the EU Commission has already opened several infringement proceedings against Warsaw and filed suits with the European Court of Justice.
Several reforms were overturned. In the judgment of the Polish Constitutional Court in October, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki asked the court to review a judgment of the ECJ from the spring. In the ruling, the top EU judges found that EU law can force member states to disregard individual provisions in national law, even if it is constitutional law.