EU Commission launches infringement procedure against Poland over EU law violation by Constitutional Tribunal

"The Constitutional Tribunal, in its rulings of 14 July 2021 and 7 October 2021, considered the provisions of the EU Treaties incompatible with the Polish Constitution, expressly challenging the primacy of EU law," the EU Commission said in a press release on Wednesday.

"The Commission considers that these rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal are in breach of the general principles of autonomy, primacy, effectiveness and uniform application of Union law and the binding effect of rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union," the EU executive body stressed.

"Furthermore, the Commission considers that these rulings are in breach of Article 19(1) TEU, which guarantees the right to effective judicial protection, by giving it an unduly restrictive interpretation. Thereby it deprives individuals before Polish courts from the full guarantees set out in that provision," we read in the statement.

"Finally, the Commission has serious doubts on the independence and impartiality of the Constitutional Tribunal and considers that it no longer meets the requirements of a tribunal previously established by law, as required by Article 19(1) TEU," the Commission concluded.

Poland has two months to reply to the letter of formal notice.

The Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki does not agree with the opinion of the European Commission concerning the Polish Constitutional Tribunal, he said on Wednesday, as he rejected accusations that it had been politicised.

"The EC is initiating proceedings and wants to subordinate the Constitutional Tribunal in Poland to EU law," Deputy Justice minister Sebastian Kaleta wrote on Twitter. "This is an attack on the Polish constitution and our sovereignty," he added.