European Commission wants penalties for Poland for disregarding the CJEU
23:31
The European Commission today asked the EU Court of Justice to punish Poland for disregarding its July judgments on the judiciary. It concerns an interim measure (safeguard) regarding the Disciplinary Chamber and the key elements of the "muzzle law", as well as a ruling that the disciplinary system for judges violates EU law. The actual actions of the authorities in Poland – in the firm opinion of the legal service of the Commission – do not meet the requirements of the CJEU.
The Commission, in its application for a fine to the CJEU for breaching the interim measure, did not propose a specific amount, but – according to unofficial Brussels estimates – it may even amount to several hundred thousand euros for each day of breach of security by Poland. This gigantic fine would be charged from the moment the penalty decision was made. The CJEU is not bound by any time limits or deadlines and can only ask for written explanations from Warsaw. However, the decision on the penalty should be made within a few weeks. Now, the only sure way for Poland to avoid it would be to meet the requirements of the EU Tribunal in the provisional measure, even before the CJEU imposes a penalty.
Also today, the European Commission – in accordance with the terms of the July ultimatum – initiated an anti-infringement procedure against Poland for ignoring the CJEU judgment regarding the disciplinary system. It is a longer, two-stage, several-month-long procedure, the end of which may become an appeal against Poland to the CJEU with a simultaneous request for a penalty imposed until the Court complies with the Court's ruling.
The Polish Constitutional Tribunal, headed by Julia Przyłębska, undermined the primacy of the CJEU in July, and in September it intends to continue the hearing at the request of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who aims to broadly undermine the powers of the CJEU in the field of the judiciary. For this reason, in mid-July, the European Commission sharply put a brake on the already negotiated draft of the Polish National Reconstruction Plan (KPO).
