The Polish Constitutional Tribunal – controlled by the PiS Government – today issued a decision stating that Polish law has primacy over EU law. The Renew Europe Group strongly condemns this ruling, which comes upon the request of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and marks another step away from the European Union and its fundamental values.
We urge the European Commission to stand firm and reject attempts by the Polish Government to use this decision for blackmail.
Malik Azmani, First Vice-President of Renew Europe, comments on the verdict:
“Today’s ruling marks a constitutional crisis, contrived by the ruling PiS Government, which throws Polish membership of the EU into turmoil. The European Commission must stand firm for the Rule of Law and reject any blackmail attempts by the Polish Government. The PiS Government has created a crisis, but it is Polish citizens’ rights that are at risk. Polish citizens are EU citizens and deserve the full protections and rights offered by EU law.”
The EU’s legal order is based on the primacy of EU law, and every country which joined the EU signed up to the principle. The Renew Europe Group again calls on the European Commission to trigger the rule of law conditionality mechanism and refrain from approving the Polish Recovery and Resilience Plan until it is certain that the EU’s fundamental values and laws are upheld in Poland.
Michal Šimečka, Vice-President of the Renew Europe Group, concludes:
“The governing elite in Poland is determined to take the country out of the EU’s legal order and subject the application of EU law to the whims of the executive. PiS politicians know that there is little to no public support for damaging Polish membership of the EU. So instead they turn to the delegitimized Constitutional Tribunal, an institutional asset they captured early on in their ruling tenure, to obtain a decision that undermines the foundation of the EU.”
Source – Renew Europe: https://www.reneweuropegroup.eu/news/2021-10-07/european-commission-must-not-give-in-to-polish-governments-contrived-court-decision-on-the-primacy-of-eu-law