"The European Commission is carrying out a planned attack on the Polish state. What is happening is what Solidary Poland and the justice ministry consistently warned against," Ziobro said.
Paweł Supernak/PAP

The European Commission’s decision to take Poland to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) over rulings questioning the primacy of EU law is a “planned attack on the Polish state,” Poland’s justice minister said on Wednesday.

Zbigniew Ziobro told a press conference that that the Commission’s move was part of the EU’s policy to “follow the German plan of abolishing EU member states… in favour of one, centralised state with a formal capital in Brussels and a real one in Berlin.”

Ziobro said his party, Solidary Poland, a junior member of the governing coalition, and he himself as justice minister, had often warned about this in the past.

“The European Commission is carrying out a planned attack on the Polish state. What is happening is what Solidary Poland and the justice ministry consistently warned against,” Ziobro said.

“There can be no agreement to the sell-out of Poland’s sovereignty for a few pieces of silver and under threats and blackmail,” Ziobro added.

Earlier on Wednesday, the European Commission said it will take Poland to the CJEU over rulings by Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal stating the primacy of Polish law over EU legislation.

The EC launched preliminary proceedings against Poland on December 22, 2021.

The EC said that in question are rulings from July 14 and October 7, 2021, which state the non-compliance of EU Treaties with the Polish constitution and question the primacy of EU law over national legislation.

According to Brussels, the rulings violate “the general principles of the autonomy, primacy, effectiveness and equal application of EU laws, and the principle of the binding character of rulings passed by the EU Court of Justice.”

“The Commission’s aim is to ensure that the rights of Polish citizens are protected and that they are able to benefit from EU membership on the same principles as all other EU citizens. The primacy of EU law guarantees its equal application throughout the EU,” the EC wrote.

The Commission also wrote that it did not consider the Polish Constitutional Tribunal an independent and neutral body owing to irregularities in the 2015 appointment of three of its judges and the 2016 appointment of its president.