Following Poland’s top Court’s ruling that the key articles of EU law were “incompatible” with the nation’s constitution. Fears that Poland could follow Britain and exit from the 27-nation bloc prompted significant demonstrations nationwide on Sunday, 10 October.
Politicians across Europe raised their concern at the ruling made by Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal on Thursday that parts of EU law are incompatible with the Polish constitution, undermining the legal pillar on which the 27-nation EU stands.
Clement Beaune, France’s Minister of State for European Affairs, said the ruling was an “attack against the EU”. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas issued a statement on this incident that Poland must “fully and completely” implement EU law. Luxembourg’s foreign minister, Jean Asselborn, told the Polish government it was playing with fire.
The Court, in its ruling, also warned the EU institutions not to “act beyond the scope of their competencies” by interfering with Poland’s judiciary, which has been a significant bone of contention with Brussels.
The latest ruling is one of the twists in the ongoing conflict between Brussels and Warsaw that was started when Poland’s nationalist Law and Justice Party came to power in 2015. The swiftly introduced changes made by the ruling party to its legal system that increased government control over judges were widely condemned as weakening the rule of law.
Both the right-wing populist governments in Poland and Hungary are increasingly at odds with the European Commission over issues ranging from LGBT rights to judicial independence. The decision of the EU to withhold Poland’s pandemic recovery funds along with Hungary is mainly due to the opinion differences with regards to the law.
Poland’s government has accused the EU, which is yet to release the recovery funds, of blackmail. In response to the claim of Poland, EU officials have said the money could be disbursed next month but with the strict rule of law conditions attached.
The new row has been identified by many politicians and keen observers as Poland’s plan to leave the bloc, which could seriously affect the stability of the EU. Most Poland’s citizens are Pro-EU, and the ruling of the Constitutional Tribunal was seen by many as the possible beginning of the potential ‘Polexit’.
TVP, which is the largest television network in the nation under the direct control of the state, ran a news ticker that read “protest against the Polish constitution” during its coverage of Sunday’s events. Critics have widely spoken against its publication and over-emphasis on the ruling party’s far right-wing agendas and propaganda.
Law and Justice Party (PiS) has welcomed the ruling made by the Constitutional Tribunal that directly questions the legitimacy of the basis of the EU itself. Critics have raised concern over the control government is exerting on the Judicial system in Poland. According to some, the national conservative party has appointed judges who favor the ruling party and their ideologies and policies.
However, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that the process of Poland and other Central European countries joining the EU in 2004 was “one of the highlights of the last decades” and that his party is not looking for the country’s exit from the EU. The same sentiment was shared by the party’s most powerful figure, Chairman Jaroslaw Kaczynski, when he insisted that Poland wants to stay in the EU.
The party and its leaders have accused the opposition of spreading fake news regarding the EU policies and blaming them as the reasons for panicking the public. Many protestors who gathered to protest against the possibility of Poland’s departure from the EU were quite emotional about the controversial law.
The ruling party’s real agenda behind welcoming such a ruling is yet to be seen, even when they claim that they had no role in the judgements. It can be noted in the past that the party has gone after judges who were not keen on the party’s policies in one way or the other.
