Poland deepens rifts with European Union after rebuff over judicial rules
Jacek Marczewski Agencja Gazeta/Reuters People demonstrate in front of the Constitutional Tribunal building in Warsaw on Oct. 7.
Polandâs top court ruled Thursday that its national laws can trump those of the European Union, intensifying a clash over democratic values and shaking the foundations of the 27-member blocâs accepted legal order.
The Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw ruled that parts of E.U. law were not compatible with the countryâs constitution.
They include an article that says that laws from Brussels have primacy over conflicting national legislation and another relating to the binding nature of decisions of the European Court of Justice.
Those principles are essential to how the union functions legally, and raises questions as to how Poland can continue to be part of it without upholding them.
âItâs at the core of the union,â said Didier Reynders, the European Unionâs justice commissioner. He said the bloc would use âall the tools at our disposalâ to enforce its fundamental principles, though he did not give further details.
Brussels has so far held off delivering tens of billions of dollars in coronavirus relief funds earmarked for Poland and Hungary due to concerns about a slide from democracy. They include issues such the treatment of LGBT people and freedom of the press under the countriesâ populist governments.
The ruling Thursday was the latest twist in a long-running dispute between Brussels and Warsaw over the independence of the countryâs judiciary.
Brussels has raised questions about the legitimacy of the Constitutional Tribunal itself, as it has been stacked with party loyalists.
Its chair, Julia Przylebska, is known to be close to Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the countryâs ruling party, who has described their friendship and said he enjoys their social calls.
Polandâs justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, described the decision Thursday as âhistoric,â saying it set the âconstitutional limitsâ of E.U. âinterferenceâ in Polish cases.
In the spring, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki had asked the tribunal to assess whether the European Court of Justice was overreaching when it came to rulings that took aim at Polandâs legal reforms.
The decision had been delayed several times before being announced Thursday.
Amnesty International said the decision would challenge the European Unionâs ability to protect human rights and the rule of law withing its member states.
âThis is another dark day for justice in Poland,â Eve Geddie, director of Amnesty Internationalâs European Institutions Office, said in a statement.
Others questioned Polandâs future within the European Union, even though membership is overwhelmingly supported among the population.
The move puts the country on the path to âPolexit,â said Jeroen Lenaers, justice spokesman for the largest political bloc in the European Parliament, adding that it is hard to believe that the countryâs leaders donât want to leave the union.
âTheir actions go in the opposite direction,â he said. âEnough is enough. The Polish government has lost its credibility. This is an attack on the E.U. as a whole.â
Quentin Aries and Reis Thebault contributed from Brussels.
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