Poland: justice considers part of European treaties incompatible with the Constitution
In her judgment, the President of the Constitutional Court listed several articles of the EU treaties which, in her opinion, are incompatible with Polish supreme law.
AP - Czarek Sokolowski
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
The Constitutional Court, the highest Polish court, ruled on Thursday that certain articles of the European Union treaties were "incompatible" with the country's Constitution.
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In her judgment, the President of the Constitutional Court, Julia Przylebska, listed several articles of the European treaties which, according to her, are incompatible with the Polish supreme law.
The European institutions "
act beyond the field of their competence
", she declared, denouncing "
the interference of the Court of Justice of the EU in the Polish legal system
".
Government spokesman Piotr Muller welcomed the Court's ruling, stressing that it confirmed “
the primacy of constitutional law over other sources of law
”. However, he considers that this decision "
does not affect the areas in which the EU has powers delegated in the Treaties
", such as competition rules, trade and consumer protection.
This is the latest twist in a long clash between Poland and the European Union over controversial judicial reforms introduced by the ruling nationalist conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party. This dispute has focused in particular on a new disciplinary system for judges which, according to the EU, seriously threatens the independence of the judiciary in Poland.
But there are other areas of contention, including the appointment of judges and their transfer without their consent between different courts or divisions of the same court.
Warsaw said the reforms were necessary to stamp out corruption in the justice system and ignored an interim order from the European Union Court of Justice to suspend the application of this disciplinary system.
European funding in question
Last month, EU Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni warned that the Polish court case could have "
consequences
" for the disbursement of stimulus funds to Poland. The European Union has not yet approved the 23 billion euros in grants and the 34 billion euros in cheap loans planned for this country.
The Polish government described Paolo Gentiloni's comments as “
blackmail
”. Since then, European officials have explained that the money could be disbursed next month, but that strict conditions would be imposed in return for respect for the rule of law. Last month, the European Commission asked the Court of Justice of the European Union to impose daily fines on Poland until it suspends judicial reforms.
This conflict has raised fears that Poland will eventually leave the European Union, which could affect the stability of this community of states.
Last month, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the head of PiS, rejected the idea, saying that Poland only wanted to end
EU
“
interference
”.
"
There will be no Polexit (...) We see unequivocally the future of Poland in the European Union
", said Kaczynski.
The Poles are overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the European Union, over 80% of them supporting membership of the EU which has given their country billions of euros in subsidies and all its gains, boosting thus its development since its accession in 2004.
But relations between Warsaw and Brussels have become strained since the PiS took power in 2015. Ryszard Terlecki, Deputy Speaker of Parliament, recently called for “
drastic solutions
” to the conflict between Poland and the United States. EU.
“
The British have shown that the dictatorship of the Brussels bureaucracy does not suit them.
They turned around and left,
”he said.
(
With
AFP)
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