Fears that the EU's very foundations and cohesion are being threatened by a Polish rejection of Brussels' legal supremacy overshadowed a summit of the bloc's leaders on Thursday.
The gathering — originally called to examine ways for Europe to cope with a global energy crunch — exposed deep east-west divisions and dug-in positions that presaged an escalating confrontation in the months ahead.
The seriousness of the row was voiced by several leaders as they arrived, with most emphasising “dialogue” to defuse the situation before it blew up into a political and legal crisis.
“It's very clear that a red line has been crossed,” said Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.
It was “a shame”, he said, that so much summit time had to be taken up on the matter, but it was necessary “because this discussion really goes to the heart of Europe".
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his Finnish counterpart Sanna Marin both said they had to get “tough” with Warsaw, while Austria's Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said Poland cannot “cherry-pick” EU laws.
Several leaders said Brussels should not release 36 billion euros ($42 billion) in pandemic-recovery money that Poland badly wants while the issue was unresolved.
A few said all EU budget money for Warsaw should be subject to an untested “conditionality” mechanism tying disbursement to member states upholding rule of law.
As he arrived, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki showed no sign of backing down.
While he said he was “ready for dialogue” he stated: “We won't act under the pressure of blackmail.”
He stood by an October 7 ruling by his country's Consitutional Court that declared EU law could only apply in a few, specific areas, with Polish law prevailing in all other national matters.
EU leaders, officials and diplomats see that verdict as a gambit to justify moves by Mr Morawiecki's populist government to get rid of independent judges and replace them with ones controlled by his ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party. They accuse Warsaw of rolling back EU democratic norms.
Mr Morawiecki reiterated his belief that the EU was overreaching in its influence over member states, trampling their sovereignty in a way that would lead to “anarchy” and “chaos” if unchecked.
He found support from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who called the pressure on Poland a “witch-hunt”.
“The Poles are right,” he said, and added that “we are going to support the Poles — there is a devious abuse of authority happening".
In a bid to head off the dispute careening out of control, key leaders hastily organised one-on-one meetings with Mr Morawiecki in the two hours before the summit started.
French President Emmanuel Macron — who spoke with the Polish leader as soon as both touched down at Brussels airport — urged Mr Morawiecki to enter dialogue “to find a solution in line with our principles and common rules,” an Elysee official said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez followed up with their own separate meetings.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who publicly clashed with Mr Morawiecki on the issue this week on the same podium in the European Parliament, said the Polish ruling added “a new dimension” to the dispute over rule of law.
“We all have to take a responsibility when it comes to protecting our fundamental values,” said Ms von der Leyen, who heads the executive tasked with protecting the EU's treaties.
The summit's convener, European Council President Charles Michel, emphasised the need to find a solution.
“We are firm on the principles of rule of law. We feel that we have tools — legal tools, institutional tools — that we should use. But we think also that we must be committed to the dialogue,” he said.
Ms Merkel — attending what could be her last EU summit before handing Germany's reins over to a new government following September elections she did not contest — said she did not want to see the row end up before the European Court of Justice.
“A cascade of legal disputes before the European Court of Justice is not a solution to the problem of how the rule of law can be applied,” she said.
The European Parliament, however, is already gearing up for legal action to force the Commission to use the conditionality mechanism on Poland.
But the Commission is taking its time. It stresses that a high burden of proof is needed if the matter goes to court.
Already the European Court of Justice is using an expedited procedure to decide the legality of the mechanism itself.
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Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Profile of RentSher
Started: October 2015 in India, November 2016 in UAE
Founders: Harsh Dhand; Vaibhav and Purvashi Doshi
Based: Bangalore, India and Dubai, UAE
Sector: Online rental marketplace
Size: 40 employees
Investment: $2 million
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
