For the Renew Europe Group in the European Parliament, the illegitimate Polish Constitutional Tribunal's rejection of the primacy of EU law is an attack on the EU’s legal order and has thrown Polish EU membership into turmoil.

Liberals share the desire of Polish citizens for a democratic and European Poland. That is why, following recent developments in the country, Renew Europe is now deeply concerned that Polish citizens will no longer be guaranteed their rights and freedoms enshrined by EU membership.

At the initiative of Renew Europe, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen joined a European Parliament debate this week to address the state of Rule of Law and Primacy of EU Law in Poland.

During the debate, Malik Azmani MEP (VVD, NL), First Vice-President of Renew Europe, said:

"The Polish authorities are not being honest with their citizens and they know it. Despite their denials, the truth is that their actions are a sly way to lead Polish citizens out of the European Union. They should start being honest and explain to their start-ups they will lose development funds, tell their farmers they will miss out on subsidies and tell their students that they may not be able to add their name to the list of over 200,000 Polish students who have taken part in Erasmus."

In a European Parliament resolution due to be adopted on 21 October, MEPs demand that the European Council issues a joint declaration addressing the seriousness of this matter at the upcoming summit of European heads of state and government on 21-22 October. The current absence of a political response from the European Council is unacceptable.

Michal Šimečka MEP (Progresívne Slovensko, SK), Vice-President of Renew Europe, added:

"Renew Europe continues to demand immediate and bold action from the European Commission and the European Council to defend the EU's legal order. We will not allow the European Council to continue to ignore this problem and hope that it will disappear. Together with the European Commission, it must make sure the Polish government respects their EU accession treaty signed in April 2003 or face the legal consequences."

In addition to the upcoming resolution on Poland, Renew Europe also reiterates their stance that the European Council must finally adopt detailed recommendations to address breaches on the rule of law with a clear timeline and go forward with the Article 7 procedure. The European Commission needs to launch infringement procedures against the illegal Constitutional Tribunal, trigger the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation and reject the Polish Recovery and Resilience Plan until the Polish government applies with all the rulings of the European Court of Justice.