Morawiecki: Poland has no problem with rule of law

At a press conference in Brussels after a European Council summit where Poland's adherence to rule of law was discussed, Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that the European Union has large competences but these were not boundless, and that the bloc could only function within those assigned competences.

"Poland has no problems with the rule of law, but some European Union countries do not understand our reforms," Morawiecki said.

He added that Poland was planning another stage of judiciary reforms, in which some elements would meet the EU halfway.

He added that Poles were one of the most pro-European societies, having strong belief not only in the EU, but also in transatlantic relations.

The European Commission President Ursula von de Leyen said after the summit on Friday that the EU executive would not trigger the conditionality mechanism against Poland, until the Court of Justice of the EU has issued its ruling on a complaint against the said mechanism filed by Poland and Hungary.

EU Commission chief also reiterated that Poland's system of disciplining judges should be changed and fired judges should return to work. She also expressed hope that Poland would implement the ruling of the CJEU.

"If the European Union is to keep on growing stronger, have its global aspirations and be a political and economic bloc, then constitutional pluralism must be respected," Poland's prime minister said.

"There is the issue of the independence of justice, but also underlying (the question)... which way is the European Union heading, what should be a European competence and what should be tackled by nation states," Merkel told reporters in Brussels after what was likely her last EU summit. "If you look at Polish history, it is very understandable that the question of defining their national identity plays a big role..., which is a different historical situation than the one countries find themselves in that have had democracy since World War 2," she argued.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that Europe was waiting for "concrete gestures" from Poland to solve the current spat with the European Union over the independence of the Polish judiciary. Earlier this month, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal ruled that elements of EU law were incompatible with the country's charter, challenging a central tenet of EU integration.