The tone continues to rise between the European Union and Poland, since in October the Polish constitutional judges ruled several articles of the Treaty on the Functioning of the Union incompatible with the Polish Constitution and refused to implement decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
Brussels is engaged in a long and intense standoff with Warsaw over the judicial reforms launched by the Polish Law and Justice Party (PiS), in power since 2015. These reforms, accused of undermining the independence of judges, have resulted in Poland several condemnations by the CJEU.
Read alsoPremity of European law: Brussels launches infringement proceedings against Poland
On Tuesday the European Commission launched an infringement procedure against Poland, arguing that its Constitutional Court openly challenged the primacy of European law.
For its part, Poland does not intend to let it go without protesting, and is also increasing the number of legal proceedings against European institutions.
Its Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki also reacted to this new procedure, criticizing Wednesday the “
bureaucratic centralism
” of Brussels.
The Polish government subscribed to
Libé
?
Above all, the Warsaw prosecutors took advantage of a long
Liberation
investigation
, which in early December revealed the existence of a "
real system of conflicts of interest and influence peddling which extends its ramifications not only to the Commission, but also at the CJEU, the temple of European law
”. These revelations by Jean Quatremer involve, according to the article, "
for the most part members of the EPP (European People's Party), the parent company of the European conservative parties
". The journalist thus described the existence of a "
EPP state which has made its nest in the heart of the European Union for the greatest benefit of its members
".
In detail,
Libé
reveals the intimate friendship between Karel Pinxten, Belgian member of the European Court of Auditors (CEC) between 2006 and 2018 and condemned by the CJEU on September 30 for embezzlement of public money, and the President of the CJEU Koen Lenaerts, also Dutch-speaking Belgian, who would have participated in many dinners or evenings at Pinxten at the expense of the European taxpayer.
The newspaper then describes a large network of friends in the entourage of the two men, mainly bringing together members of the EPP.
Read also Poland: how the model student became one of the black sheep of Europe
However, the president of the EPP is none other than Donald Tusk, former president of the European Council from 2014 to 2019, and also president since July 3, 2021 of Civic Platform (PO), the main opposition party to PiS in power. Poland. In October, Donald Tusk was strongly moved by the decision of the Polish constitutional judges, believing that it "
pushed the country towards a Polexit
". Last Sunday, he was still pounding the pavement with other opponents of power to demand the abandonment of a new media law.
This is why
Libé's
article
was read with interest in Warsaw.
These revelations have been erected by the Polish Ministry of Justice as proof that the European institutions, which criticize Warsaw for violations of the rule of law, are themselves circumventing or breaking these same rules that they claim. enforce willy or forcefully on member states.
"The credibility of the CJEU and the European Commission
has
not
been undermined by these revelations
", declared the Polish Deputy Minister of Justice, Sebastian Kaleta.
Polish prosecutors open investigation
Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro wrote last week to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warning her that, if true, the allegations in this article
"undermine the functioning of the EU"
. He called on her to end her "
silence
" and to "
clarify the matter
" urgently. Zbigniew Ziobro in the process asked the prosecutors of Warsaw to open an investigation into a possible
"abuse of power by judges of the CJEU during the examination of complaints against Poland"
.
In addition, according to the news site wPolityce (close to Poland's ruling Law and Justice party, PiS), it would appear that the KRS, the body responsible for appointing judges in Poland, is preparing a resolution calling for suspend the activity of the CJEU following “
the disclosure by the European media of the corruption scandal involving judges and officials of the CJEU
”.
Read also In Poland, a law aimed at dismissing an influential private television channel
The Polish Minister of Justice also seized this Thursday the Constitutional Court so that it decides on the European mechanism conditioning the granting of funds to the respect of the rule of law. Poland, like Hungary, has already taken this issue to European justice to have this mechanism annulled. The Court of Justice of the EU is expected to rule in early 2022. Considerable sums are at stake for Poland, with 75 billion euros over seven years for cohesion funds and 31 billion over seven years for financing of the Common Agricultural Policy.
Finally, in an interview published this Friday, December 24, Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski denounced German influence on European institutions, accusing Germany of trying to transform the European Union into a federalist “Fourth German Reich”.
Thus, even the Christmas truce has not, for the time being, got the better of the open confrontation between Warsaw and Brussels, further amplified by the judicial and verbal escalation in Poland.
