Debate in the EU Parliament: Morawiecki accuses the EU of “blackmail”

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has threatened Poland with severe sanctions for questioning EU law.

"We cannot and we will not allow our common values ​​to be jeopardized," she said on Tuesday in a debate with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

The Commission will act.

Thereupon the Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki accused the EU of “blackmail”.

"I do not agree that politicians want to blackmail Poland and threaten Poland," said the Prime Minister on Tuesday in front of the MEPs in Strasbourg.

As specific options for action by the EU, von der Leyen named another infringement procedure, the use of a new procedure to cut EU funds and repeated application of the so-called Article 7 procedure.

The latter could even lead to the withdrawal of Polish voting rights in EU decisions.

Controversial judgment of the Polish Constitutional Court

The background to the threats from der Leyens is a ruling by the Polish Constitutional Court, according to which parts of EU law are incompatible with Poland's constitution.

The EU Commission regards this decision as highly problematic because it could give the Polish government an excuse to ignore the unpleasant judgments of the ECJ.

The judgment calls into question the foundations of the European Union, criticized von der Leyen in parliament on Tuesday.

“It is an immediate challenge to the unity of the European legal order.

Only a common legal system enables equal rights, legal security, mutual trust between the member states and the resulting common policy. ”Poland will always be“ in the heart of Europe ”, said von der Leyen at the end of her speech.

On Monday, Morawiecki announced in a letter to the European Commission and the EU heads of state and government about EU law and its "primacy over state laws", but at the same time indicated that the EU could soon no longer be a federation of free states.

In the community there is a threat of "practically unrestricted violence by centrally administered and hardly democratically controlled organs," wrote Morawiecki.

"I mean the gradual transformation of the EU into a subject that is no longer the federation of free, equal and sovereign states."

Still a “loyal member” of the EU

Morawiecki assured, however, that “Poland will remain a loyal member” of the EU. He was referring to the judgment of the Polish Constitutional Court on the primacy of the Polish constitution over European law. The court did not find “that the provisions of the EU treaty are entirely incompatible with the Polish constitution”. This only applies to the interpretation of some of them based on the most recent ruling by the European Court of Justice. The primacy of EU law only affects the areas of responsibility within the EU's area of ​​competence. “But this priority has limits,” wrote Morawiecki. Now "some EU institutions" tried to force certain actions on the part of member states.

The criticism of Poland continued on Monday during the EU foreign ministers' meeting in Luxembourg.

The head of department of the Grand Duchy, Jean Asselborn, called on Poland to change its constitution so that a judgment like that of the constitutional tribunal would no longer be possible.

Otherwise he suggested the country to leave: "No member state is indispensable in the EU."

Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) said Poland is an important part of the EU, but must adhere to its principles.

He supported the EU Commission "in its current activities";

this includes the non-release of funds from the Corona reconstruction fund.

The European Ministers will discuss the judgment this Tuesday.