European Union taking legal action against Poland
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The European Commission has expressed "serious concerns" about the constitutional tribunal in Warsaw.
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Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki (AFP)
The European Union announced it would take legal action against Poland for violating EU law and compromising judicial independence.
The accusation sparked harsh condemnation from Warsaw, as Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki described the EU's decision as a tendency in Brussels toward "bureaucratic centralism that has to be stopped."
Brussels had previously withheld approval of coronavirus recovery money for Poland. The decision exacerbates a long-running feud between Warsaw and Brussels over Poland's alleged violation of EU democratic rules.
According to EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, the infringement procedures were launched against Poland for violating the supremacy of EU law and concluding that some parts of EU treaties were irreconcilable with Polish laws.
'An attack on the constitution of Poland'
The Polish Deputy Justice Minister called the EU's decision "an attack on the Polish constitution and our sovereignty."
Former Polish PM Beata Szydlo also called the decision an attack on the constitution of Poland and the foundations of statehood.
Morawiecki stated that he "strongly" disagreed with the decision, detailing that it demonstrated a misunderstanding of the divide between EU and national powers.
Given Poland's Constitutional Court's ongoing rejection of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), legal action from Brussels was foreseen.
According to the Polish PM "More and more EU member states are seeing that there should be a limit to competences - what the European Union can decide on and what the Polish state can decide on."
ECJ former ruling
The ECJ had previously ruled against Poland's institution of a system to lift the immunity of judges on the Constitutional Court and terminate those deemed unacceptable by the parliament, which is run by the Law and Justice party.
The Commission is also dissatisfied with a 2019 Polish law prohibiting Polish courts from interpreting EU law in some areas and from submitting legal matters to the ECJ.
