Handan Kazanci
08 October 2021•Update: 08 October 2021
ISTANBUL
The EU Commission president on Friday expressed “deep concern” over a Polish constitutional court ruling that challenged the primacy of EU law over national legislation.
“I am deeply concerned by yesterday's ruling of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal. I have instructed the Commission's services to analyse it thoroughly and swiftly. On this basis, we will decide on next steps,” Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.
“Our Treaties are very clear,” von der Leyen said, adding: “All rulings by the European Court of Justice are binding on all Member States' authorities, including national courts.”
“EU law has primacy over national law, including constitutional provisions. This is what all EU Member States have signed up to as members of the European Union. We will use all the powers that we have under the Treaties to ensure this,” she went on to say.
“The EU is a community of values and laws. This is what binds our Union together and makes it strong. We will uphold the founding principles of our Union's legal order. Our 450 million Europeans rely on this,” the EU Commission head added.
The bloc’s “utmost priority is to ensure that the rights of Polish citizens are protected and that Polish citizens enjoy the benefits granted by membership of the European Union, just like all citizens of our Union,” she underlined.
“Moreover, EU citizens as well as companies doing business in Poland need the legal certainty that EU rules, including rulings of the European Court of Justice, are fully applied in Poland,” she added.
Meanwhile, Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki backed the top Polish court’s decision to confirm “the primacy of the national constitution over European Union law,” according to Radio Poland.
On Thursday, the Constitutional Tribunal in Poland ruled that some EU treaty articles were “incompatible" with the Polish constitution.
The ruling by the court came after Morawiecki asked in March whether EU institutions could stop Poland from overhauling its judicial system, according to Radio Poland.
“The verdict appeared to question a key tenet of European integration and threatened to escalate a long-running dispute between Morawiecki's governing conservatives and EU institutions,” it reported.
Morawiecki wrote in a Facebook post on late Thursday that Poland’s accession to the bloc in 2004 was “one of the most important events in decades” and “benefited us all,” reported Radio Poland.
“This is why I’m making it clear that Poland’s place is and will be among the European family of nations,” he added.
