Polish government on road to 'Polexit'

“The refusal to implement rulings of the European Court of Justice in Poland is a clear step towards taking Poland out of the European Union. We fear that the Polish government is on the path to Polexit. It cannot be seen in any other way than a political decision of the Tribunal with unlawfully staffed persons, including former politicians of the ruling governing coalition,” said Jeroen Lenaers MEP, EPP Group Spokesman for Justice and Home Affairs, and Andrzej Halicki MEP, Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee.

The two MEPs referred to today’s ruling of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal that decided that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) rulings with regard to the rule of law in Poland are not in line with the Polish Constitution and thus must be disregarded. These ECJ rulings include, amongst others, an interim order to suspend the functioning of the Disciplinary Chamber of the Polish Supreme Court, which now serves to repress judges and prosecutors known for standing in defence of the rule of law.

“Today's so-called ruling was pronounced by a former prosecutor of Communist Poland and a person who, as an active politician of the current ruling coalition in Poland, co-authored controversial judiciary reform. This, in a law-abiding country, should disqualify him from the judging bench," emphasized Lenaers.

The ECJ rulings, which the Polish Constitutional Tribunal intends to disregard now, have been the ground for the European Union to launch, for the first time in the EU’s history, the Article 7 procedure for the breach of the rule of law.

"It is obvious that this ruling can’t be seen in any other way than politically motivated. It does not even pretend to meet the conditions of judiciary independence,” stressed Lenaers.

“Today’s decision is a slap in the face for Poles and the whole democratic order. It is like a show trial practiced by undemocratic states. Poland joined the European Union in order to secure its peace, stability, democracy and the rule of law. This accession was and still is, supported by an overwhelming majority of Poles. Any decision of the so-called Tribunal questioning the priority of European law over Polish law is putting Poland on the road to Polexit,” concluded Halicki.

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