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DPA
Luxembourg
The EU’s top court has ordered Poland to pay 1 million euros (1.2 million dollars) per day to the European Commission for failing to heed EU rulings on its judiciary, warning on Wednesday of a major threat to the bloc’s legal order.
The Polish Supreme Court’s disciplinary chamber for national judges was the key point of contention in the ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
It forms part of a wider, years-long row between the government in Warsaw and EU officials who fear the erosion of basic rule-of-law standards.
Poland, immediately liable for the new fines, hit out at the ECJ and slammed the decision as “blackmail.” “The ECJ completely disregards and ignores the Polish constitution and the rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal,” deputy justice minister Sebastian Kaleta wrote on Twitter.
Parliamentary leader of the national-conservative ruling PiS party, Ryszard Terlecki, when asked if Poland would now pay the fines on a daily basis said: “We haven’t paid anything yet, so don’t panic.” The ECJ decision said the fines, as part of a second interim ruling, will continue until Poland suspends the disciplinary chamber while the legal process continues, or the top court makes a final ruling.
Changes to the disciplinary body were necessary “in order to avoid serious and irreparable harm to the legal order of the European Union and to the values on which that union is founded, in particular that of the rule of law,” an ECJ statement said.
The PiS government argues the disciplinary chamber - part of a slew of judicial reforms - is part of a necessary modernization and has accused the ECJ of making politically motivated judgements.
The European Commission said the Polish Supreme Court’s disciplinary chamber has been marred by allegations of not being independent enough from the government.
An example of these concerns is that the chamber can lift judges’ immunity, for example, making criminal proceedings possible.
The chamber can also institute disciplinary proceedings against Polish judges on account of the content of rulings, or for referring a question to the EU court, which may create a chilling effect on other judges and jeopardise judicial independence.
The ruling comes at a moment of particularly high tension between Warsaw and Brussels.
The prime minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, warned in an interview earlier this week in the Financial Times that his country would not negotiate judicial reforms “with a gun to our head.” He even accused the European Commission indirectly of considering a “Third World War” against his country. “If they start the Third Wold War, we are going to defend our rights with any weapons which are at our disposal,” he said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has previously made clear she will block billions of euros in EU cash from the pandemic recovery fund for Poland until the country has reversed crucial judicial reforms.
After the ECJ’s first July ruling went against the disciplinary chamber, the commission - which initiated the ECJ proceedings - gave Poland one month to explain how it would implement the Luxembourg-based high court’s decisions or face financial sanctions.
Warsaw then assured Brussels it would drop the contested chamber in its current form by implementing reforms within months.
But unsatisfied with the response, the European Commission asked the ECJ in early September to slap daily fines on Poland for non-implementation of the ruling, leading to Wednesday’s judgement.
Separately, a recent ruling by Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal that said national law can can take precedence over EU treaties in some instances raised further alarm in Brussels.
This decision was seen by the commission as highly problematic as it could give Poland the pretext to ignore ECJ rulings that are not to its liking.
Luxembourg
The EU’s top court has ordered Poland to pay 1 million euros (1.2 million dollars) per day to the European Commission for failing to heed EU rulings on its judiciary, warning on Wednesday of a major threat to the bloc’s legal order.
The Polish Supreme Court’s disciplinary chamber for national judges was the key point of contention in the ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
It forms part of a wider, years-long row between the government in Warsaw and EU officials who fear the erosion of basic rule-of-law standards.
Poland, immediately liable for the new fines, hit out at the ECJ and slammed the decision as “blackmail.” “The ECJ completely disregards and ignores the Polish constitution and the rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal,” deputy justice minister Sebastian Kaleta wrote on Twitter.
Parliamentary leader of the national-conservative ruling PiS party, Ryszard Terlecki, when asked if Poland would now pay the fines on a daily basis said: “We haven’t paid anything yet, so don’t panic.” The ECJ decision said the fines, as part of a second interim ruling, will continue until Poland suspends the disciplinary chamber while the legal process continues, or the top court makes a final ruling.
Changes to the disciplinary body were necessary “in order to avoid serious and irreparable harm to the legal order of the European Union and to the values on which that union is founded, in particular that of the rule of law,” an ECJ statement said.
The PiS government argues the disciplinary chamber - part of a slew of judicial reforms - is part of a necessary modernization and has accused the ECJ of making politically motivated judgements.
The European Commission said the Polish Supreme Court’s disciplinary chamber has been marred by allegations of not being independent enough from the government.
An example of these concerns is that the chamber can lift judges’ immunity, for example, making criminal proceedings possible.
The chamber can also institute disciplinary proceedings against Polish judges on account of the content of rulings, or for referring a question to the EU court, which may create a chilling effect on other judges and jeopardise judicial independence.
The ruling comes at a moment of particularly high tension between Warsaw and Brussels.
The prime minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, warned in an interview earlier this week in the Financial Times that his country would not negotiate judicial reforms “with a gun to our head.” He even accused the European Commission indirectly of considering a “Third World War” against his country. “If they start the Third Wold War, we are going to defend our rights with any weapons which are at our disposal,” he said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has previously made clear she will block billions of euros in EU cash from the pandemic recovery fund for Poland until the country has reversed crucial judicial reforms.
After the ECJ’s first July ruling went against the disciplinary chamber, the commission - which initiated the ECJ proceedings - gave Poland one month to explain how it would implement the Luxembourg-based high court’s decisions or face financial sanctions.
Warsaw then assured Brussels it would drop the contested chamber in its current form by implementing reforms within months.
But unsatisfied with the response, the European Commission asked the ECJ in early September to slap daily fines on Poland for non-implementation of the ruling, leading to Wednesday’s judgement.
Separately, a recent ruling by Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal that said national law can can take precedence over EU treaties in some instances raised further alarm in Brussels.
This decision was seen by the commission as highly problematic as it could give Poland the pretext to ignore ECJ rulings that are not to its liking.
