Poland has ruled that some articles of the European Treaties are incompatible with the country's Constitution (Constitutional Court)

The Polish Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday that some articles of the EU treaties are incompatible with the country’s constitution, thus calling into question a key principle of integration – the supremacy of EU law over national law.

“The supremacy of constitutional law over other sources of law derives directly from of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. Today (once again) this was clearly confirmed by the Constitutional Court “, wrote on Twitter the government spokesman, Piotr Muller, according to Reuters and AFP, taken over by Agerpres.

The Nationalist Party of Law and Justice (PiS) government is involved in a series of disputes with the EU on issues ranging from the courts and freedom of the press to LGBT rights. The case examined by the court concerns the changes that PiS has brought to the country’s judicial system.

“said Julia Przylebska, president of the Polish Constitutional Court, according to AFP. She denounced the “interference of the EU Court of Justice in the Polish judiciary” and listed a number of articles in the EU treaties which, according to Polish judges, are in contradiction with Poland’s fundamental law.

Critics have warned that calling into question the supremacy of EU law would not only jeopardize Poland’s long-term future in the Union, but also the stability of the EU bloc itself.

The court began hearing the case in July, but postponed it four times before Thursday’s hearing. Some critics say the postponements could have been aimed at putting pressure on Brussels to accept Warsaw’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).

The EU has accused the Warsaw executive of politicizing Polish courts, including the Constitutional Court.

The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on Wednesday that Poland violated democratic rules of the independence of the judiciary by forcing the transfer of a judge who had criticized the government. It is up to the Polish courts to decide how to respond to this verdict, but the EU can take legal action to impose measures.

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