Following that, on Wednesday, December 22, the European Commission launched an infringement proceedings against PolandJudgments handed down in October by the Constitutional Court of this country, Judgments challenging the primacy of European law and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (CJEU).
“We consider this case to be in violation of the general principles of autonomy, primacy, effectiveness and consistent application of union law and the CJEU’s binding judgments. We also consider that the Constitutional Tribunal will no longer meet the requirements of an independent and impartial court established by law under the Convention. Paulo Gentiloni, EU Commissioner for Economy, told a news conference.
The European Administrator, who is the custodian of the agreements, has sent a letter to the Polish government, which has two months to respond. The breach process will lead to referral to the CJEU and may even go as far as financial sanctions.
Strong test
The European Union has been in conflict for years with the nationalist conservative government in power in Warsaw over its judicial reforms, which have been accused of undermining the independence of the judiciary. Poland has been repeatedly denounced by the CJEU.
Under the influence of the ruling party, the conflict intensified with the July ruling of the Polish Constitutional Court declaring the CJEU’s rulings on Polish judicial reforms unconstitutional.
Tensions escalated on October 7, when the Constitutional Court, seized by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, challenged the rule of EU law and ruled that some articles of the EU treaty were inconsistent with the country’s constitution.
Controversial Polish judicial reforms are at the center of the Commission’s thwarting of the country’s recovery plan. Brussels calls for an end to Polish operations “Order Room” The judges, according to the CJEU decision, allege that there is no independence against political power.