The key Polish decision on the primacy of EU law was delayed

VARSAV, Aug 31 (Reuters) – Poland’s Constitutional Court again adjourned a ruling on Tuesday on whether to prioritize the country’s constitution or EU treaties, a verdict that could call into question the legal order of the block.

The proceedings, initially set for July, were postponed until September 22 after the motion of the Polish human rights defender, according to which one of the judges, the former legislator of the ruling party Stanislaw Piotrowicz, should not participate since he had participated in the judicial reforms opposed by Brussels.

“A judge of the Constitutional Court’s attitude towards the EU is marked by far-reaching criticism or even hostility can not rule on the constitutionality of EU treaties,” said the cabinet of the ombudsman Marcin Wiacek, who was nominated by the opposition and appointed by parliament in July.

The catalyst for Tuesday’s session had been a long-standing dispute with the EU over changes in the judicial system in Poland. Brussels is angry about what it considers attempts to undermine the independence of the judiciary. Warsaw accuses Brussels of unjustified income in its internal affairs.

The primacy of EU laws over national ones is a key principle of European integration. Opposition politicians say Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s challenge to this principle not only jeopardizes Poland’s long-term future in an EU that has helped boost its economic growth, but also the stability of the bloc. . Read more

“It would lead to Europe to the letter, where different countries apply EU law differently … (EU law) needs an arbitrator, and the arbitrator is the European Court of Justice,” the commissioner said. European Committee on Values ​​and Transparency, Vera Jourova.

“POLEXIT”?

Poland argues that EU treaties do not give Brussels the right to interfere with member states’ judicial systems.

“The constitution is the highest law in our country,” Cabinet Minister Michal Wojcik said in a statement to Reuters. “If it were the opposite, I would mean that we are not a sovereign state. We did not agree with the EU treaties.”

Some lawyers use the term “Polexit” to describe what they say are Warsaw’s efforts to withdraw from the EU legal framework, but Poland is unlikely to leave the bloc soon.

The EU has no legal way to expel countries and polls show that an overwhelming majority of Poles support their membership. But some government critics say Poland risks an eventual loss of EU funding.

The government has been accused of politicizing the judicial system, including the Constitutional Court. The ruling Law and Justice Party of Poland (PiS) says the reforms were necessary to eliminate the influence of the communist era.

The EU Supreme Court also ruled last month that a Polish disciplinary chamber for judges was illegal, a day after the Warsaw Constitutional Court ruled that Poland should ignore a previous demand to stop the chamber.

Following a threat of possible EU financial sanctions, Poland said it would dissolve the chamber, but did not detail how it would replace it. Brussels has not yet commented on Warsaw’s response, apart from saying it is analyzing it. Read more

Reports by Alan Charlish and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk in Warsaw, Sarah Morland in Gdansk, Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels; Edited by Edwina Gibbs and Gareth Jones

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