Does European Union law supersede national legislation? This is the question the Polish government put to the country’s Constitutional Tribunal.
Specifically, Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, who’s also the chief prosecutor, wants to check if the EU’s 2009 Lisbon Treaty, which allows local judges to ask the European Court of Justice for guidance, violates Poland’s Constitution.
As reported by Bloomberg, Ziobro said Germany’s top court ruled in 2009 that its Constitution has supremacy over EU laws and Poland “doesn’t want to be treated any different” than the EU’s political and economic heavyweight.
“Poland is doing great in the EU and I don’t see a reason why we can’t ask the Polish Constitutional Court the same question that the German top court was asked,” Ziobro told reporters on October 17. “Criticism that this is a signal of a Polish Brexit of sorts is pure manipulation. Our views on EU membership haven’t changed at all.”
In response, Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz, a lawmaker from opposition Nowoczesna.pl told reporters that Ziobro’s question “effectively pushes Poland out of the EU” and the government “will be responsible if Warsaw and other cities lose billions of euros from EU funds”.
