European Commission opens infringement proceedings against Poland for rejection of EU law

The European Commission is opening infringement proceedings against Poland for challenging the rule of EU law in two recent cases. The European Commission announced it on Wednesday announcement. Poland’s highest courts have ruled in two verdicts, on July 14 and October 7 of this year, that European treaties are incompatible with the Polish constitution, giving priority to national law. Poland has two months to respond to the European Commission’s complaint. If there is no response, the Commission can refer the matter to the European Court of Justice.

In July, the Polish Constitutional Court ruled that the country was not required to comply with interim measures imposed by the European Court of Justice. In October, the judges went further: the decisions of the European Court in Luxembourg would not be binding and national politicians would be allowed to ignore articles of European law.

The point of contention in these cases is a series of reforms introduced by the nationalist-conservative government of Poland in recent years: a disciplinary chamber was created which dismissed the critical judges, the candidates already appointed to the Constitutional Court were replaced at the last minute for conservative nationalist candidates. According to the European Commission, these reforms do not comply with the basic European conditions for independent justice.

The stripping of the Polish rule of law has already led to more infringement proceedings. In 2019, the European Commission launched a similar procedure concerning the politicization of the Polish rule of law, because “the disciplinary regime of judges undermines judicial independence in Poland”.

In April 2020, the Commission opened another infringement procedure concerning the judiciary in Poland. In March 2021, the Commission referred Poland to the Court of Justice. Without a response to the charges in October this year, the European Court ruled to impose a fine on Poland of one million euros per day, until the demands of the European Commission are met. The total amount can be deducted from the European grant to the country.

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