Statement by Commission President von der Leyen

Following yesterday’s oral presentation of the ruling by the Polish Constitutional Tribunal, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen issued the following statement today: “I am deeply concerned by yesterday’s ruling of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal. I have instructed the Commission’s services to analyse it thoroughly and swiftly. On this basis, we will decide on next steps. The EU is a community of values and laws. This is what binds our Union together and makes it strong. We will uphold the founding principles of our Union’s legal order. Our 450 million Europeans rely on this. Our utmost priority is to ensure that the rights of Polish citizens are protected and that Polish citizens enjoy the benefits granted by membership of the European Union, just like all citizens of our Union. Moreover, EU citizens as well as companies doing business in Poland need the legal certainty that EU rules, including rulings of the European Court of Justice, are fully applied in Poland. Our Treaties are very clear. All rulings by the European Court of Justice are binding on all Member States’ authorities, including national courts. EU law has primacy over national law, including constitutional provisions. This is what all EU Member States have signed up to as members of the European Union. We will use all the powers that we have under the Treaties to ensure this.” The statement is available online in English and will be online in all EU languages shortly. Yesterday, the Commission also published a statement reaffirming the primacy of EU law, which is available online in all EU languages.