Recently, tensions between Poland and the EU have risen again, and when the EU summit begins in Brussels, the issue is high on the agenda.
- It is Poland, Hungary and Slovenia in one ring corner and the other member states in the other ring corner, says David Boati from Brussels.
Recently, the Constitutional Court in Poland ruled that Polish law trumps EU law, which provokes the EU, which says that you can not join a club and then choose which rules to follow.
Poland, for its part, believes that the Union is blackmailing and that they must be allowed to decide their own laws.
"Conflict between values"
- Basically, it is about a conflict between values, the liberals who characterize the Brussels institutions and the more conservative in Poland.
It is also about power, whether it is Brussels or the member states that will decide and where the border goes, says Boati.
This week, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen went out and criticized Poland's actions.
- We neither can nor will allow our common values to be jeopardized.
The Commission will act and the alternatives are all well known, she said.
But the European Commission has also been criticized by the European Parliament for handling the conflict with the member state too lazily.
- At this summit, no formal decisions will be made, but if leader after leader sits and scolds Poland, the Commission will have a hard time actually punishing Poland with financial sanctions, says David Boati.