Communicating vessels: Rule of law in Poland and the EU

As Freedom House rightly concluded, the dismantling of the rule of law “resulted in a dramatic decline in the quality of Polish democracy”. [...] Under that procedure, Poland became the subject of hearings at the Council and European Parliament (EP) debates, which endorsed several resolutions criticising the dismantling of rule of law by the Polish government by majority of around two-thirds. [...] ‘Enemies’ of the rule of law Poland needs like-minded allies to counter the external pressure of the EU mainstream. [...] Warsaw may be able to count on Hungary and Czechia, but the strength of that coalition of ‘enemies’ of the rule of law is too weak to permanently counterbalance the external pressure of the EU mainstream on the Polish government. [...] This scenario would constitute an existential challenge to a post-Brexit EU that may not survive in the long term with four member states (representing almost 30% of the EU population) rejecting the rule of law – the basic foundation of the European integration.