“We will not let our common values be endangered. The Commission will act,” said Ursula von der Leyen before the European Parliament after the decision of the Polish Constitutional Court challenging the primacy of European law.
Le Monde with AFP
It’s a real arm of iron that has been played in the European Parliament’s hemicycle Tuesday, October 19th. Polish Prime Minister Morset Morawiekki denounced in Strasbourg a “blackmail” of the European Union (EU) to his country on the primacy of European law, while the Warsaw Recovery Plan is frozen by Brussels.
The European Commission will act to defend the “common values” of the EU in Poland, warned its President, Ursula von der Leyen, without making a call against Warsaw. “We will not let our common values be endangered. The Commission will act,” said M me von der Leyen before the European Parliament after the decision of the Polish Constitutional Court challenged the primacy of European law.
For his part, the Polish Prime Minister, who had asked to come to speak in the hemicycle of Parliament, “said” rejected [R] this language of threats or coercion “. He delivered a plea on the sovereignty of states against Brussels. “Blackmail becomes a usual method of some Member States, it is not the basis of democracy,” criticized Mr. Morawiecki in a speech by thirty minutes acclaimed by his supporters.
In question about the Polish revival plan, the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, said Tuesday that the European Executive was waiting for “a clear message” of Warsaw on his judicial reforms.
“We will continue to debate this plan. There must be both investments and reforms, and these reforms are about the independence of justice. So we are waiting for a clear message in this area . The analysis will continue, “he said, arriving at a meeting of European ministers in Luxembourg.
The European Executive prepares his response
Poland has been in open conflict with Brussels for several years for the controversial judicial reforms implemented by the Populist Party on the right to power, law and justice (EST).
But this conflict has recently peaked with the historical judgment delivered on October 7 by the Polish Constitutional Court. This jurisdiction close to PIS has found some “incompatible” EU treaties with the National Constitution.
The European Executive, as a guard of the treaties, prepares his response. Ursula von der Leyen enumerated on Tuesday his options. The Commission could trigger against Poland a new offense procedure, which can lead to a referral to the EU Court of Justice. It has also at its disposal since January a tool for suspending or reducing funds paid to a state that does not respect the principles of the rule of law.
The controversial reforms of justice in Poland also led the Commission in December 2017 to launch a procedure (Article 7 of the Treaty) against the country. This procedure, which can in theory go to the suspension of the country’s voting rights to the Council, is nevertheless, however, is neutral.
“I am deeply worried.” This judgment, unprecedented, “calls into question the foundations of the European Union,” launched Ursula von der Leyen in front of the MEPs, who demand a hard line against Warsaw.
