EU warns Poland for challenging union law

The European Commission’s chief executive warned Poland yesterday that its challenge to the supremacy of European Union law called into question the very foundations of the 27-nation bloc and could not go unpunished.

Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal ruled last week that parts of EU law are incompatible with the Polish constitution, undermining the legal pillar on which the union stands and raising fears that Poland could eventually leave the bloc.

No plans for a ‘Polexit’

Poland’s ruling nationalist Law and Justice party says it has no plans for a “Polexit” and — unlike Britain before its Brexit referendum in 2016 — popular support for membership of the EU remains high in Poland.

Speaking in a debate on the row in the EU’s parliament in Strasbourg yesterday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen laid out three options for a response to the Polish court’s attack on the primacy of EU law.

Three options

She said a first option is so-called infringements, where the European Commission legally challenges the Polish court’s judgement, which could lead to fines.

Second is a conditionality mechanism and other financial tools whereby EU funds would be withheld from Poland.

The third option is the application of Article 7 of the EU’s treaties. Under this, rights of member states — including the right to vote on EU decisions — can be suspended because they have breached core values of the bloc.