By
William Stroupe
As Poland’s constitutional
crisis deepens, the EU is increasingly likely to slap sanctions on
the country for violating EU rule of law commitments. The EU’s Venice
Commission, a human rights watchdog, released a highly critical
report after a series of controversial actions by the Polish
government. Upon election, the conservative-led government expanded the Constitutional Court and adopted new procedural rules which made it more difficult to overrule
legislation on constitutionality concerns. The high court rejected the new rules as
unconstitutional. However, the government has refused to publish the
court’s opinion (and thus render it binding) on the basis that the high court failed
to follow the new rules in concluding that they were unconstitutional. If the
EU’s rule of law investigation finds violations in Warsaw, the European Council
may invoke Article
7
of the Treaty on European Union to suspend rights arising from the Treaty,
including Poland’s right of voting representation in the European Council. In
the event a specific violation of EU law is found and prosecuted under Article
258 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, financial
sanctions may also be imposed.
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