EU court tells Poland to pay $1.2M a day in judicial dispute
The European Union’s top court has ordered Poland to pay 1 million euros a day ($1.2 million) over the country’s longstanding dispute with the bloc over judicial independence
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The European Union’s top court has ordered Poland to pay 1 million euros a day ($1.2 million) over the country's longstanding dispute with the bloc over judicial independence.
The Wednesday ruling by the Court of Justice came after the the EU’s executive commission asked for “financial penalties” to ensure compliance with a ruling from July.
The court said that the penalty was “necessary in order to avoid serious and irreparable harm to the legal order of the European Union and to the values on which that Union is founded, in particular that of the rule of law.”
EU nations have warned for years against what they see as a backsliding of democratic principles in Poland when it comes to an independent judiciary and a free media.
The conflict came to the fore again at the beginning of the month when Poland’s constitutional court ruled that Polish laws have supremacy over those of the European Union in areas where they clash.
The EU argues that the Polish government has stacked the Constitutional Tribunal with handpicked judges.