la Ley polaca reta al Derecho europeo

Poland’s highest court ruled that its Constitution trumps some laws set by the E.U., a decision that threatens to dissolve the glue that holds the 27 members of the bloc together.

8-X-21, nytimes

El Constitucional polonès situa el país al límit de la ruptura jurídica amb la UE

Lluís Bou
Foto: EFE
Barcelona. Dijous, 7 de Octubre 2021. elnacional.cat

El Tribunal Constitucional (TC) de Polònia ha dictaminat aquest dijous que el Tractat d'Adhesió d'aquest país a la Unió Europea és incompatible amb algunes parts de la Constitució polonesa, perquè situa el dret comunitari per sobre del nacional. El posicionament de l'alt tribunal és un obús contra la UE, quan la Comissió Europea no ha aprovat els 23.900 milions del fons de recuperació per a Varsòvia a causa de la seva actitud, i situa Polònia al límit de la ruptura jurídica amb l'espai comunitari.

El tribunal s'ha pronunciat a instàncies del Govern polonès, que va demanar la seva opinió sobre la preeminència del dret polonès o de la UE en cas de conflicte entre tots dos, un cas polèmic que ha enfrontat Varsòvia amb les institucions comunitàries durant els últims mesos.

El tribunal havia endarrerit la seva decisió en diverses ocasions mentre el govern polonès assegurava a la Comissió Europea que desitjava negociar i, per tant, rebaixar l'escalada de tensió. La UE segueix sense aprovar el pla de recuperació polonès, i, a més, amenaça d'estrenar amb Varsòvia el nou instrument de protecció de l'estat de dret, que permet a la Comissió Europea tallar l'aixeta dels fons europeus a països que ataquen la independència judicial

 

POLAND DEFIES EU LAW

FRONTAL ATTACK: Poland is escalating its fight with the EU, after the country’s Constitutional Tribunal — effectively a puppet court — issued a ruling challenging the bloc’s legal order on Thursday. Lawyers and parliamentarians are now warning Warsaw has crossed a red line.

What the ruling says: “The effort by the Court of Justice of the European Union to interfere in the Polish justice system violates the … principle of the primacy of the Polish constitution,” the tribunal ruled Thursday evening.

What it means: The ruling allows Warsaw to disregard a fundamental EU principle enshrined in the Treaties — the independence of the courts. “For everything related to Article 19 [of the Treaty], especially the independence of the judiciary, the primacy of EU law does not apply in Poland,” Jakub Jaraczewski from Democracy Reporting International told Playbook. “This is a direct challenge to EU law at an unprecedented scale.”

Morning must-read: This brilliant explainer by our colleague Zosia Wanat.

**A message from Equinor: Without energy, the world would simply stop. But the energy system must change. The challenge ahead is bigger than one company, one industry or one country. Equinor has a clear ambition going forward – taking a leading role in the energy transition and becoming a net-zero company by 2050.**

CJEU REPERCUSSIONS: Get ready for an unequivocal answer from the EU’s top court. “The CJEU will not shy away from taking drastic measures to protect the integrity of the EU legal order,” Jaraczewski said. The court “has several cases pending, for example on the European Arrest Warrants, where the court could rule that the rule of law has deteriorated so much that warrants by Poland should no longer be executed.”

PARLIAMENT REPERCUSSIONS: “The Commission has allowed this to go too far. It is time to act,” Iratxe García, leader of the Socialists & Democrats group in the European Parliament, told Playbook. “No member state should be able to set aside EU law and still enjoy the benefits of this Union. I’m very worried.” García is traveling to Warsaw today and will meet with Polish judges on Saturday.

Parliament President David Sassoli said the Polish verdict “cannot remain without consequences.”

Freeze the money: Daniel Freund from the Greens said the ruling “is a defining moment for the Commission presidency of Ursula von der Leyen … it shows that appeasement has not worked. The only language Warsaw understands is freezing money… as we have seen with LGBT zones.” (Background: Polish regions are scrapping resolutions denouncing what they called “LGBT propaganda” after facing the threat of losing billions in EU funding. More here.)

Hit ’em where it hurts: Freund said the Commission should immediately stop EU budget payments — not just the already frozen €24 billion in grants from the EU’s pandemic recovery fund — under “common provisions” that allow Brussels to block funds if management and control systems no longer work in a recipient country. “We can’t wait nine months for the rule-of-law mechanism to kick in,” Freund said.

COMMISSION REPERCUSSIONS: The EU’s executive replied with speed (if not with force), reiterating the supremacy of EU law and the principle that CJEU rulings are binding. “The Commission will not hesitate to make use of its powers under the Treaties to safeguard the uniform application and integrity of Union law,” it said in a statement.

But in a sign Brussels is still hesitating, officials told us what happens next all depends on what the Law and Justice-led government in Warsaw decides to do with the ruling. “They can choose to implement ECJ rulings, or they can choose to ignore them. So the saga will continue,” a Commission official said.

COUNCIL REPERCUSSIONS: EU countries were cautious Thursday night, with diplomats telling Playbook they were still assessing the ruling. But it’s clear this will make it harder for countries to approve Poland’s recovery money.

Warning: “I don’t see how the Commission and a qualified majority of member states can greenlight the Polish plan to get recovery instrument money as long as this ruling stands. My sense is: This will backfire big time,” said Lucas Guttenberg, deputy director of the Delors Centre think tank in Berlin.

Important detail: The Constitutional Tribunal ruling will only enter into force once it is published, by the government, in Poland’s official journal.

Questionable legality: The European Court of Human Rights already ruled that one of the judges who issued Thursday’s ruling was unlawfully appointed. Two others have been appointed in a similar way. “The legality of anything the Tribunal does today could be someday challenged,” said Jaraczewski in this thread.

8-X-21, politico

POLOGNE. Le Tribunal constitutionnel polonais a décidé hier que sa Constitution nationale avait la primauté sur le droit communautaire de l’Union européenne, ce qui donne des sueurs froides au L2 spé Droit Européen qui nous lisent, mais surtout ne risque pas de calmer le conflit entre Varsovie et Bruxelles. D’autant plus que le tribunal est perçu comme étant sous le contrôle du parti au pouvoir, Droit et justice, et comprend des juges perçus comme ayant été nommés anticonstitutionnellement, comme le rappelle ma collègue Zosia Wanat, qui décrypte cette décision repoussée depuis des mois (article en anglais).

La Commission européenne a répondu par communiqué qu’elle “n’hésitera pas à utiliser ses pouvoirs issus des Traités [de l’UE] pour garantir l’application uniforme et l’intégrité du droit de l’Union”. David Sassoli, le président du Parlement européen, a tweeté que le verdict polonais “ne peut pas rester sans conséquences. La primauté du droit UE doit être indiscutée.”