France Hints at Possible Financial Sanctions Against Poland Over Controversial Constitutional Reform

© REUTERS / POOLA view of different flags of the European Union Members during a debate on Poland's challenge to the supremacy of EU laws at the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, France, October 19, 2021
A view of different flags of the European Union Members during a debate on Poland's challenge to the supremacy of EU laws at the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, France, October 19, 2021 - Sputnik International, 1920, 21.10.2021
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PARIS (Sputnik) - Earlier, the Constitutional Court of Poland confirmed the superiority of the constitution of the republic over the legislation of the European Union against the background of several EU Court verdicts, which condemned the actions of the Polish authorities.
France may slap sanctions, including financial ones, on Poland in light of Warsaw's decision on its constitution supremacy over EU regulations, French Secretary of State for European Affairs Clement Beaune said on Thursday.
"First of all, it is necessary to continue the political dialogue ... But if the dialogue brings no fruit, there may be various sanctions, including financial ones," Beaune said on air of the LCI broadcaster.
"Europe is a sovereign, collective choice. Nobody forces anyone to join the European Union. You can leave it, as we saw in the Brexit example," he stressed.
At the same time, Beaune does not believe that Poland wants to leave the European Union. "But I believe she is taking risks by not following the general rules," he added.
According to Beaune, at the summit of the heads of state and government of the EU, which opens on Thursday, no concrete decision on Poland will be made.
"We will give the Polish Prime Minister the opportunity to clarify the situation. He did this in the European Parliament on Tuesday. Unfortunately, it was not very convincing. He was, rather, aimed at provocation," the Secretary of State said.
He said that in the future, the procedure for imposing sanctions may be started, if Poland does not change its position in the coming months.
On 7 October, Poland's constitutional court ruled that its basic national law had primacy over EU legislation in response to criticism of a series of rulings in Warsaw. The move raised concerns within the bloc, while the European Commission launched an investigation into the ruling to decide on further measures.
The commission has published a statement saying it would uphold the bloc’s founding principles, namely the primacy of EU law over national law, including constitutional provisions, and the binding nature of all rulings passed by the European Court of Justice.
Poland is not the only country that puts its own constitution above the EU. Last year, the German constitutional court ruled that the European Central Bank's public sector asset-purchase programme was partially in violation of the country's basic law.
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