(WARSAW) – Just days after the UK General Election delivered an overwhelming mandate for the Conservative Party majority to execute its plans to leave the EU, members of the Poland’s highest court have announced that the country may have to leave the European Union due to fundamental disagreements with Brussels regarding Poland’s new judicial reform proposals.
News proposals would allow for Polish judges to be removed from the bench if they questioned the sovereign government’s latest judicial reforms being tabled by socially conservative Law and Justice Party’s government.
The EU is accusing the party of politicizing the judiciary for political gain, but party officials believe this is a perfect example of the EU attempting to interfere with – and overrule – the sovereignty of one of its member states.
Washington Post adds:
The proposed judicial changes have been condemned by the European Union and the bloc’s Polish allies. If fully implemented, the measures would clash with E.U. rules. Government critics fear that the European Union may then have no other option than to suspend some of Poland’s membership rights, which could lead to Poland’s eventual departure from the bloc.
If Parliament approved the changes, it would challenge the long-established primacy of E.U. law over Polish national law and stifle domestic dissent by independent judges, critics fear. The proposals — set to be debated in Parliament on Thursday — would make it possible for judges to be fired if they disagree with broader judicial changes that are facing intense scrutiny by the Polish opposition and democracy advocates across Europe.
Critics of the Law and Justice Party maintain that the country’s right-wing government is pushing an authoritarian agenda by attempting to silence public dissent by marshaling influence over mainstream media outlets and the courts.
The issue of jurisdiction and sovereignty do not look like they will easily be resolved, as The Post also added:
“The E.U.’s top court ruled last month that other changes to Poland’s judicial system had been unlawful, as well, triggering a fierce government response that has resulted in the ongoing showdown.”
If passed by Parliament, the new laws in question could be implemented as early as 2020, setting the stage for a potential “Polexit” challenge by Warsaw to Brussels.
Undoubtedly, this could be a seminal test case for the viability of the EU as a federal super state, and if Brussels cannot successfully negotiate this new impasse then it could face the very real prospect of losing another one of its key member states.
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