European Union

Today, 95% of the hydrogen produced in Europe is of fossil origin and a major emitter of CO2. For the EU to achieve carbon neutrality, hydrogen must be produced in a way that emits low amounts of CO2.

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The EU and NATO expressed concern on Monday (15 November) over Russia’s increased military presence in and around Ukraine as the escalating migration crisis on the EU’s borders with Belarus prompt transatlantic allies to take Kyiv’s warnings seriously.

Citizens often send messages to the President of the European Parliament (or to the institution’s public portal) expressing their views on current issues and/or requesting action from the Parliament. The Citizens’ Enquiries Unit (AskEP) within the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) looks into these issues and replies to the messages, which may sometimes be identical as part of wider public campaigns.

The European Parliament has recently received a large number of messages on the rule of law in Poland and the European Union (EU) response to the reform of the Polish judicial system. Citizens first began to write to the Parliament on this subject in October 2021, criticising the approach of the European Union on the matter. The European Parliament considers that the Polish Constitutional Tribunal is illegitimate and deplores its decision of 7 October 2021 as an ‘attack on the European community of values and laws as a whole’.

Please find below the main points of the reply sent to citizens who took the time to write to the European Parliament on this matter (in English and Polish).

Main points made in the reply in English

On 21 October 2021, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the rule of law crisis in Poland and the primacy of EU law. The European Parliament considers that the Polish ‘Constitutional Tribunal’ is illegitimate, ‘lacks legal validity and independence’, and has been transformed ‘into a tool for legalising the illegal activities of the authorities’. The European Parliament ‘deeply deplores’ the Tribunal’s decision of 7 October 2021 ‘as an attack on the European community of values and laws as a whole’.

European Parliament President on launching legal action

The President of the European Parliament Mr David Maria Sassoli stated: ‘The European Parliament has debated this matter in plenary. We listened very carefully to what Prime Minister Morawiecki had to say, but wish to stress that Poland wrote the European laws in force along with the rest of us. We made these rules together, so there can be no talk of them being imposed by the European Union.

We have together adopted an EU law that creates a close link between the protection of the EU budget and the respect of the rule of law. This law is in force and we believe that the procedure should now be launched in order to protect our budget and secure the respect of the rule of law. This is why I have asked the Parliament’s legal services to refer a case to the Court to ensure that legislation is duly applied. We do not intend to shirk our institutional role in defending the basic principles on which the European Union is founded.’

Previous EP reaction

Previously, on 17 September 2020, the European Parliament adopted resolution on the determination of a clear risk of a serious breach by Poland of the rule of law.

In the resolution, the European Parliament expresses its concerns related to the functioning of the legislative and electoral system and to the protection of human rights. The Parliament expresses its deep concern that the situation in Poland ‘has seriously deteriorated since the triggering of the procedure referred to in Article 7(1) TEU’. The Article 7 procedure includes two mechanisms: preventive measures, if there is a clear risk of a breach of EU values; and sanctions, if such a breach has already occurred.

Main points made in the reply in Polish

21 października 2021 roku Parlament przyjął rezolucję w sprawie kryzysu praworządności w Polsce i nadrzędności prawa Unii. Uważa on, że Trybunał Konstytucyjny w Polsce jest nielegalny, „nie ma mocy prawnej i niezależności’ i został „przekształcony w narzędzie legalizacji bezprawnych działań władz’. Parlament „głęboko ubolewa nad decyzją’ Trybunału „wydaną 7 października 2021 r., która stanowi atak na całą europejską wspólnotę wartości i praw’.

Wypowiedź przewodniczącego Parlamentu na temat podjęcia kroków prawnych

Przewodniczący Parlamentu Europejskiego David Maria Sassoli powiedział: „Parlament Europejski omówił tę kwestię na posiedzeniu plenarnym. Z uwagą wysłuchaliśmy wypowiedzi premiera Morawieckiego. Pragniemy jednak zwrócić uwagę, że Polska opracowywała obecne prawo wraz z pozostałymi państwami Unii. Ustaliliśmy te zasady wspólnie, nie można więc powiedzieć, że Unia Europejska je narzuca.

Wspólnie też przyjęliśmy prawo unijne, w którym ściśle powiązano ochronę budżetu Unii z poszanowaniem prawa unijnego. Prawo to obowiązuje i uważamy, że należy teraz uruchomić procedurę, by chronić nasz budżet i zapewnić poszanowanie praworządności. Dlatego też zwróciłem się do służb prawnych Parlamentu o skierowanie tej sprawy do Trybunału, aby zapewnić przestrzeganie przepisów prawa. Nie zamierzamy uchylać się od obowiązku ochrony podstawowych zasad, na których opiera się Unia Europejska’.

Wcześniejsze reakcje Parlamentu

Już 17 września 2020 r. Parlament Europejski przyjął rezolucję w sprawie stwierdzenia wyraźnego ryzyka poważnego naruszenia przez Rzeczpospolitą Polską zasady praworządności.

W rezolucji tej wyraził obawy co do funkcjonowania systemu ustawodawczego i wyborczego oraz ochrony praw człowieka w Polsce. Parlament wyraził głębokie zaniepokojenie, że sytuacja w tym kraju „uległa poważnemu pogorszeniu od czasu uruchomienia procedury przewidzianej w art. 7 ust. 1 TUE’. Artykuł 7 procedury przewiduje dwa mechanizmy: środki zapobiegawcze, jeżeli istnieje wyraźne ryzyko naruszenia wartości Unii, oraz sankcje, jeżeli takie naruszenie miało już miejsce.

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