Poland refused to comply with the CJEU ruling and in December 2020 the Commission sent a letter of formal notice adding a new complaint to the case and asking Poland to respond. After concluding that Poland`s response was not satisfactory, Poland told the ECJ in March that Poland was “violating EU law by allowing the disciplinary chamber of the Supreme Court – whose independence is not guaranteed – to take decisions that have a direct impact on judges and the way they perform their duties.” and asked the CJEU to order interim measures to “prevent further serious and irreparable damage to the independence of the judiciary and the EU. Legal system. In particular, it asked the CJEU to suspend the provisions empowering the Disciplinary Chamber to rule on requests for waiver of judicial immunity and on matters relating to the employment, social security and retirement of judges, to suspend the effects of decisions already taken by the Chamber and to suspend provisions preventing Polish judges from directly abolishing provisions of EU law protecting the independence of justice. and refer a preliminary ruling to the ECJ. The European Commission has taken Poland to court over the country`s Constitutional Court`s challenge to the supremacy of EU law, marking an escalation of the long-running battle between Brussels and Warsaw. Poland`s Constitutional Court ruled in July that the measures imposed by the European Court of Justice were unconstitutional and warned against a legal “Polexit”. The decision comes on top of numerous lawsuits Brussels has launched against Poland to force its ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party to roll back some of its sweeping judicial reforms, which critics say place the country`s judges under political control. “We must defend ourselves against an attack on our sovereignty, Poland must defend its democracy against blackmail aimed at depriving us of the right to decide for ourselves,” he said. The European Union will try in various ways to defend itself against what it sees as an existential threat and will try to isolate offenders. The Polish government said the trial was an attack on its sovereignty. “The European Commission is launching a procedure and wants to subordinate the Polish Constitutional Court to EU law,” Deputy Justice Minister Sebastian Kaleta tweeted. In so doing, it deprives individuals before the Polish courts of all the guarantees provided for in that provision. Beata Szydło, who was Poland`s prime minister from 2015 to 2017 and is now an MEP, tweeted: “This is not a legal dispute, but an attack on the Polish constitution [and] the foundations of the Polish state.

The EC aims to deprive Poland of its rights as a sovereign state. Following the Polish Court`s decision, the French and German foreign ministers recalled that EU membership is linked to common values and rules. Their words must be followed by deeds. For too long, the slow pace of control of Poland by EU Member States under the Article 7 mechanism has emboldened the Polish government. It is time for the Council of the EU to stand up for the Polish people and across the EU, agreeing on collective action on rule of law recommendations and formally recognising that EU values are under attack in Poland. On 7 October the court responded to Morawiecki`s request. In a 12-2 decision, it ruled that “the attempt of the European Court of Justice to interfere in Polish legal mechanisms was contrary to .. rules that take precedence over the Constitution and rules that respect sovereignty in the process of European integration. More specifically, the General Court held that Article 1(1) and (2) TEU, read in conjunction with Article 4(2) TEU, was not applicable. 3 TEU, as regards the European Union, `whose integration on the basis of Union law and its interpretation by the Court of Justice mark a new phase in which, (1) the institutions of the Union act beyond the limits of the competences conferred by the Republic of Poland in the Treaties; (2) The Constitution is not the supreme law of the Republic of Poland and does not take precedence over its binding nature and application; (3) The Republic of Poland cannot function as a democratic and sovereign State, contrary to Articles 2, 8 and 90(1) of the Polish Constitution. And it decided that the first subparagraph of Article 19(1) of the Treaty should be taken into account. 2 TEU `In order to ensure effective judicial protection in the fields covered by EU law, national courts and tribunals .

the power (1) to disapply the provisions of the Constitution in the exercise of its functions. (2) on the basis of provisions not in force: repealed by the Sejm or declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Tribunal` is contrary to Articles 2 and 7, 8(1), 90(1), 178(1) and 190(1) of the Polish Constitution. The ECJ ruled on Wednesday that the “mechanism had been adopted on an appropriate legal basis” and rejected the complaints of Poland and Hungary “in their entirety”. In a statement, the Commission said it was also launching infringement procedures because the decisions of the Polish Constitutional Court deprive people bringing actions before Polish courts of the right to an effective remedy enshrined in the EU treaties. The lawsuit filed by the Commission, which is the guardian of the EU treaties, is an escalation of the conflict with Warsaw over the rule of law, which began when Poland`s ruling nationalist and eurosceptic PiS party took power in 2015. “We have tried to have a dialogue, but the situation is not improving. The foundations of the EU legal order, in particular the EU rule of law, must be respected,” EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said on Twitter. The commission also expressed doubts about the “independence and impartiality” of the court itself – which, according to the opposition and some legal experts, is under the political control of PiS politicians. “It no longer meets the requirements of a previously established court,” the commission said.

The German court ruled in 2020 that the European Court of Justice had exceeded its jurisdiction in a case related to the European Central Bank`s bond purchase. The European Commission took legal action against the German court in June. After years of discussion but little action, the European Union has recently begun to exert financial pressure on Poland and Hungary, with whom it has also fallen out over the rule of law. The European Commission announced on Wednesday that it would open infringement proceedings against Poland for undermining EU law and the independence of its national judicial system. In response to last week`s decision, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged to use “all powers” to protect the binding nature of the CJEU. The European Commission should combine this rhetoric with new infringement procedures against the Polish government to address the Constitutional Court`s persistent abuses to undermine rights. The Commission should pursue its commitments to link EU reconstruction funds to serious rule of law guarantees and to implement the EU Treaty mechanism, which links EU funds to respect for EU values. This is one of many legal proceedings that Brussels is bringing against Poland. The Commission`s decision on Wednesday to send the letter of formal notice is the first step in the case that could eventually end up before the Court of Justice of the EU. Warsaw now has two months to respond to the letter.

And if nothing else works, Brussels hopes that such actions will influence domestic politics in a way that will lead to a democratic change of government. Article 1 TEU refers to Member States conferring competences on the Union in order to achieve common objectives and a `new stage in the process of creating an ever closer Union`. in which decisions are taken with the greatest possible respect for the principle of openness and proximity to the citizen. Article 4(3) TEU provides that the Union and the Member States `shall assist each other in full mutual respect in the performance of tasks arising from the Treaties.