EU Picks Legal Fight With Poland Over Independence of Top Court

(Bloomberg) -- Poland was handed a two-month ultimatum to address the lack of independence of its top court as European Union patience with the nation’s alleged defiance of the bloc’s rule of law edges toward snapping point. 

The European Commission on Wednesday said it “has serious doubts” on the “impartiality” of the constitutional court “and considers that it no longer meets the requirements of a tribunal previously established by law.”

“We’ve tried to engage in a dialog, but the situation is not improving,” EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said on Twitter. “Fundamentals of the EU legal order, notably the primacy of EU law, must be respected.”

The Polish top court in October ruled that some EU laws are incompatible with the country’s constitution, undermining a cornerstone of EU membership. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government has since also asked its Constitutional Court to review an EU court ruling related to migration.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Wednesday questioned the European Commission’s assertion that the top court was no longer independent, adding that it’s a question of where the bloc’s legal competences end. 

The move suggests that the “trend of creeping bureaucratic centralism from Brussels is spreading and has to be stopped at some point,” he told reporters in Ruda Slaska, southern Poland.

The EU has for years been battling against Poland and Hungary over numerous issues from the rule of law to climate policy that have, so far, led to little by way of concrete punishment. Last month, the commission took a first informal step toward triggering the so-called conditionality mechanism, which is being challenged by Hungary and Poland at the bloc’s top court. It could ultimately deny the duo billions of euros.

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