Judicial row with EU: Polexit the sole option?
The row over Poland's judicial reform is heating up: this morning, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg ruled that the Disciplinary Chamber at the Supreme Court violates EU law. For its part the Polish Constitutional Tribunal was due to decide today whether European law is compatible with the Polish constitution, but has now postponed the ruling without further explanation. If it decides that the constitution takes precedence over EU law, observers say there can only be one conclusion.
Not such a good exchange
Corriere della Sera is concerned:
“Just two days ago, just after a dinner in Brussels with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted perhaps a little too optimistically about a 'good exchange' on the issues under discussion. ... Should the Polish Constitutional Tribunal now confirm the primacy of national law and claim that Articles 1 and 19 of the Treaty on the European Union are not compatible with its constitution, Warsaw would have two options: either to amend the treaty or withdraw from the EU.”
Marching eastwards
There is not much left that would prevent the PiS from aiming for a Polexit, Gazeta Wyborcza comments:
“The PiS knows that its vision of Poland as an authoritarian, xenophobic, religious democracy dominated by corruption and nepotism is incompatible with modern Western civilisation. There are two reasons why the PiS has not yet fully committed itself to the East. One is the money, which, however, is disappearing because of the violations of the rule of law. The other is the voters, who are EU-sceptical but look up to America like a father.”
Doubts about continued membership growing
Rzeczpospolita also fears Poland could end up leaving the EU:
“[Constitutional] judge Zbigniew Jędrzejewski went as far as to call the European Union 'that creature'. We are still members of the EU, and until recently there was no doubt that nothing was more in our interest than staying in it. But that seems to be changing.”