Poland: the historic decision of the Constitutional Court raises the specter of a "Polexit"

Pro-European demonstration in front of the Polish Constitutional Court in Warsaw on Thursday, October 7, 2021. AP - Czarek Sokolowski

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3 min

The Polish justice considers that certain articles of the treaties of the European Union are "

incompatible

" with the Constitution of the country.

This Friday, October 8, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, however, assured that his country wished to remain in the European Union. 

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The decision of the Polish Constitutional Court challenges the primacy of European law over Polish law.

According to her, several articles of the European treaties would be " 

incompatible

 " with the Constitution of the country.  

The move is the latest twist in a long clash between Poland and the EU over controversial judicial reforms introduced by the ruling nationalist conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS). For Georges Mink, director of research emeritus at the CNRS, specialist in Central Europe, this decision of the highest Polish court is a major one. "

This approach is absolutely historic, because first of all, it is a considerable departure from the very logic of Poland's accession to the European Union. Poland accepted the European treaty, until the last. And when it joined, it accepted a certain primacy of European law over Polish law. And so, in a way, it transferred part of its legal sovereignty to the European Union. And this, it must be emphasized, obliges all the member countries of the European Union. However, Poland has started to challenge this relationship with the European Union, precisely by asking the Polish Constitutional Court to find that there is dissonance between the decisions of the European Court of Justice and the Polish Constitution ”. For 

Georges Mink, this is a step towards a sort of isolation of Poland within the European Union, also calling into question Polish commitments vis-à-vis the European Union

.

"Some see it, but perhaps they are dramatizing a little too much, a beginning of a process of" Polexit

", he believes.

A standoff wanted by power

Brussels reacted severely and the European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders warned that the EU would use “all the tools” at its disposal to guarantee the primacy of Community law.

This decision risks, for example, depriving Poland of the European funding planned to ensure the post-pandemic economic recovery.

For Georges Mink, “

The Law and Justice Party

(PiS) 

is playing a bit of the swagger by saying that they are able to finance themselves, that they do not need European funds. In reality, they will seek negotiation, because the Poles still need this new money, precisely for the economic take-off. I do not see how the Europeans can accept this kind of verdict. The Law and Justice Party imagines that the European Union, under its pressure, and very keen that the European Union does not implode because of Poland, will give in and find a compromise as is often the case. cases in the European Union. But it is difficult to see how seeking a compromise will be possible when European standards and European standards are called into question

”.

► To read also: 

Poland: justice considers part of the European treaties incompatible with its Constitution

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