- Borislav Ivanov
The clash between Poland and the EU
This Tuesday, the Polish government published the verdict of the Constitutional Tribunal of the EU member state, which declared that the Polish constitution has primacy over some EU laws. This entails that this ruling enters into force now.
The government did not hesitate at all to publish this decision immediately, unlike for other decisions in the past. This happened despite enormous large-scale concern, raised by the ruling, which has aroused a lot of fear in the Polish populace, as well as in the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the majority of EU member states, as this undermines core principles of the EU’s legal foundations. This sparked massive demonstrations in Poland last Sunday, as people are worried that the verdict could cause a so-called “Polexit”, which could push the country out of the European Union.
Relations between Brussels and Warsaw have been fragile for a very long time now, due to a variety of reasons, and this issue has severely worsened them once again. The Court of Justice of the European Union is now debating a new measure, which would allow the EU to cut off funds from its budget to members, which are considered to be breaching the rule of law. The final verdict of the court is going to be announced on the 2nd of December.
In addition to all of that, the CJEU has already imposed a daily €500,000 fine on Poland for ignoring orders to halt work at the Turów lignite mine, situated right on the Czech border.
More than a 100 000 demonstrated in Poland in support of the country’s membership in the EU. According to a recent poll, more than 80% are in favor of the country remaining in the union. The citizens of Poland are European citizens, many of them have a European identity, and soon there are going to be legal adults in Poland which have been born in the EU. Poland also receives a lot of funding, which has had an immense impact on its economy, living standards, and recovery from the fall of its communist regime.