Poland’s challenge to the primacy of European Union law is a “slap in the face” to countries that supported the massive Covid-19 stimulus fund it is set to benefit from, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.
What the Taoiseach said will directly confront the Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki over his government’s interference with judicial independence and solicitation of a court ruling stating the Polish constitution trumps EU law as leaders meet in Brussels.
“We take that issue, pretty seriously, it’s not just a legal issue I think it’s a political issue. The letter from the Polish prime minister is doubling down really,” he told journalists.
“I do believe Poland has gone too far.”
Poland would be one of the largest beneficiaries of a €750 billion Covid-19 recovery programme funded by joint borrowing, and the Taoiseach said Warsaw’s position was a bitter response to countries like Ireland that will ultimately pay more for the programme than they will receive.
“Many reluctant states heretofore vote would never have signed up for that, and it really is a slap in the face to those countries then… [THAT]positions like this are taken by a member state that will benefit significantly,” he said.
Diplomats concede that the question of the boundary of EU legal jurisdiction and which authority adjudicates on it is a grey area, but stress that the Polish ruling was produced by a judicial system whose independence has been undermined by the government.
The European Commission is currently preparing its options for actions against Poland, including the use of a new tool that could ultimately cut the country off from EU funds if it is found that rule of law problems are putting the union’s financial interests at risk.
Poland’s prime minister Morawiecki has voted not to give in to what he calls EU “blackmail”, while his ally Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán has accused the bloc of a “witch hunt against Poland”.
he two countries have long provided cover for each other in the EU against attempts to address what other member states see as creeping autocracy and the erosion of democracy by both regimes.
Vaccine progress
The Taoiseach travelled to Brussels on Thursday for the EU summit which takes place over two days and features discussions on Covid-19 vaccination rates, soaring energy prices and Poland’s challenge to EU law.
Leaders of the bloc’s 27 member states will discuss the varying vaccination rates across the European Union and a potential booster-shot campaign.
Infection levels are rising in a number of European states, and although some of this may be waning immunity, some countries have witnessed a proliferation of vaccine disinformation.
Although Ireland has a 92 per cent vaccination rate, politicians here are becoming increasingly anxious about the number of people in hospital and the number of patients in intensive care.
Another major item on the agenda will be the soaring energy prices that are leaving households footing significantly bigger bills to heat their homes as the colder period looms.
The discussion today will focus on what EU member states can do individually and what the European Union can do as a whole to address an issue that has been partly caused by higher global demand and tighter gas supply.
EU country leaders will discuss a “toolbox” the EU Commission published last week, which outlined the national measures governments can take and said Brussels would look into longer-term options to address price shocks.
Most EU countries have already drawn up emergency action plans to shield consumers from the price spike, including energy tax cuts and subsidies for poorer households, and on Thursday leaders will encourage others to follow suit.
Leaders will also tackle their Polish counterpart on Thursday over a court ruling that questioned the primacy of European laws in a sharp escalation of battles that risk precipitating a new crisis for the bloc.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is set to defend the October 7th ruling by Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal stating that elements of EU law were incompatible with the country’s constitution.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said this week that Poland’s challenge to the supremacy of EU law was calling “into question the foundations of the European Union”.
The Commission has for now barred Warsaw from tapping into €57 billion of emergency funds to help its economy emerge from the pandemic.
Warsaw also risks losing other EU handouts, as well as penalties from the bloc’s top court.
