New Escalation in the Confrontation between the EU and Poland

Oct. 29, 2021 (EIRNS)—In an escalating move in the confrontation with Poland, the European Court of Justice imposed a fine of €1 million per day for failing to implement a previous ECJ ruling to dissolve Poland’s Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court.

The ECJ ruling had been rejected by the Polish Constitutional Court, and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki had asserted the primacy of national law over EU law in a speech before the EU Parliament and the EU Commission last week.

In a related move, the European Network of Councils of Justice (ENCJ) expelled Poland yesterday. The ENCJ is a coordinating body between the Commission and all European Councils of Justice, its members being members of the National Councils.

In an interview with the Financial Times published Oct. 24, Morawiecki had warned the EU that if the European Commission “starts the third world war” by withholding promised Covid recovery cash to Warsaw, he would “defend our rights with any weapons which are at our disposal.”

Responding to the escalation against Warsaw, European Parliament Identity and Democracy Group chairman Marco Zanni tweeted that “Trampling the sovereignty of nation states will lead the Union towards its disintegration.”

Interestingly, Bavarian daily, Augsburger Allgemeine, speculated on Oct. 28 that if Brussels tightens the rope too much, Warsaw could veto the EU Green Deal.