The European Commission has decided to launch an infringement procedure against Poland because of serious concerns with respect to the Polish Constitutional Tribunal and its recent case law.
The Constitutional Court, in its rulings of 14 July and 7 October 2021, considered the provisions of the EU Treaties incompatible with the Polish Constitution, expressly challenging the primacy of EU law.
The Commission considers that these rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal are in breach of the general principles of autonomy, primacy, effectiveness and uniform application of Union law and the binding effect of rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Furthermore, the Commission considers that these rulings are in breach of Article 19(1) TEU, which guarantees the right to effective judicial protection, by giving it an unduly restrictive interpretation. Thereby it deprives individuals before Polish courts from the full guarantees set out in that provision.
The Commission has serious doubts on the independence and impartiality of the Constitutional Tribunal and considers that it no longer meets the requirements of a tribunal previously established by law, as required by Article 19(1) TEU.
Whereas the Constitutional Tribunal is called upon to rule on questions relating to the application or interpretation of EU law, the Commission considers that it can therefore no longer ensure effective judicial protection by an independent and impartial tribunal previously established by law, as required by Article 19(1) TEU, in the fields covered by EU law.
Poland has now two months to reply to the letter of formal notice.