Statement of the Legal Experts Group of the Stefan Batory Foundation on the Polish Prime Minister’s petition to the Constitutional Tribunal to verify the

22 536 02 00 fax 22 536 02 20 batory@batory.org.pl www.batory.org.pl Warsaw, 7 May 2021 Statement of the Legal Experts Group of the Stefan Batory Foundation on the Polish Prime Minister’s petition to the Constitutional Tribunal to verify the compliance of the provisions of the Treaty on European Union with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland On 1 May 2004, following a referendum on membersh. [...] The Prime Minister’s petition of 29 March 2021 for the Constitutional Tribunal to verify the compliance of certain provisions of the Treaty on European Union with the provisions of the Constitution seeks to undermine the principles which Poland undertook to abide by when it joined the European Union. [...] In the applicant’s view, the provisions of the TEU that are not compliant with the Constitution are those that entitle or oblige the authorities applying the law to “derogate from applying the Constitution” where it does not comply with EU law, prescribe application of the law in a way inconsistent with the Constitution, or entitle courts to check the independence of judges appointed by the Presid. [...] Among the provisions of the TEU identified by the Prime Minister as contravening the Polish Constitution are norms defining fundamental rules of EU law, including: • the principle of sincere cooperation, which obliges member states to make every effort to ensure the obligations resulting from EU law are adhered to as well as refraining from actions that could threaten the fulfilment of the EU’s ob. [...] We recall that in its recent ruling on resolutions of the KRS, the EU Court of Justice emphasised that the effects of the principle of primacy of EU law apply to all bodies of a member state, including courts and tribunals, and thus also the Polish Constitutional Tribunal.