"Blackmail": The dispute between Poland and the EU is rocking - Von der Leyen threatens new proceedings

Poland's head of government speaks of “blackmail” in the EU Parliament.

The EU's competences have their limits.

Ursula von der Leyen becomes clear.

Strasbourg - In the legal dispute between Warsaw and Brussels, the fronts became clear once again on Tuesday: the Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki accused the EU of “blackmail”. "I do not agree that politicians want to blackmail Poland and threaten Poland," said the Prime Minister in front of the EU Parliament * in Strasbourg. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen * affirmed that the EU would “act” to prevent Poland from undermining the Union's values ​​and cohesion.

“I would like to reject the language of threats and blackmail,” said Morawiecki.

This has become a method against some member states, added the head of government.

"The EU's competencies have their limits, we can no longer remain silent when they are exceeded," he also said.

The EU member states must have instruments to react to this development.

He quoted from judgments of the Supreme Court in the Netherlands, the French Constitutional Council and the Federal Constitutional Court to support his position.

Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki: "The EU's competencies have their limits"

EU Commission President von der Leyen had previously said that the EU * would “not allow our common values ​​to be jeopardized”. Last week, the Polish Constitutional Court ruled that some of the EU treaties were unconstitutional and denied that EU law took precedence over national law. The court accused the EU institutions of unlawfully interfering in Poland's internal affairs and, in particular, of overstepping their competences with their action against controversial judicial reforms by the Polish government. The EU Commission regards this decision as highly problematic because it could give the Polish government an excuse to ignore the unpleasant judgments of the ECJ.

The commission will act, announced von der Leyen.

As concrete options, she named another infringement procedure, the use of a new procedure to cut EU funds and a renewed application of the so-called Article 7 procedure.

The latter could even lead to the withdrawal of Polish voting rights in EU decisions.

EU Commission President von der Leyen: "Immediate challenge to the unity of the European legal order"

The judgment calls into question the foundations of the European Union, criticized the EU Commission President * in Parliament.

“It is an immediate challenge to the unity of the European legal order.

Only a common legal system enables equal rights, legal security, mutual trust between the member states and the resulting common policy. ”