Poland’s justice minister wants the constitutional court to block a planned EU ban on petrol and diesel cars. He also appears to have conceded that the opposition will form the new government after the ruling party lost its parliamentary majority in Sunday’s elections.
“The EU together with the new government that is being formed wants to deprive Poles of the right to decide what cars they drive,” said Zbigniew Ziobro today, quoted by the Polish Press Agency (PAP). The ban would be “a great catastrophe for Poland, armageddon, we cannot agree to this”.
“That is why I have decided to submit a request to the Polish Constitutional Tribunal – which is obliged to defend the interests of Poles – to assess whether this regulation of the European Council and the European Parliament is consistent with the Polish constitution,” he added.
The regulation to which Ziobro was referring is a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the EU from 2035. It was approved by member states in March, with Poland being the only one to vote against it. The regulation was also approved by the European Parliament and has now entered into force.
The EU has agreed to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035 despite opposition from Poland, which was the only member state to vote against the proposal https://t.co/AfCxgKZcle
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) March 28, 2023
Ziobro argues that the ban “violates [the Polish constitution] in many places, including the principle of unanimity in making such decisions, because the [EU] treaties clearly indicate that in matters of energy mix, states must make decisions together and act as one”.
“However, in this case, this did not happen; Poland voted against these regulations,” he pointed out. “We will not consent to the making of such strategically important decisions for Poles over our heads…[and] violating the Polish constitution.”
In a statement, the justice ministry said that it believes that, by “preventing Poland from pursuing a sovereign energy policy”, the EU ban violates three articles of Poland’s constitution relating to the common good, rule of law, and sustainable development.
Minister @ZiobroPL: UE razem z tworzącym się nowym rządem chce odebrać Polakom wolność decydowania, jakimi samochodami będą jeździć. To ograniczy swobodę poruszania się i negatywnie wpłynie na status materialny Polaków. pic.twitter.com/VcwD9b3xuj
— Min. Sprawiedliwości (@MS_GOV_PL) October 20, 2023
The justice minister noted that he had “consistently opposed the madness of EU policy, which attacks the basic interests and rights of Poles”. In this case, the planned ban would threaten Poles who cannot afford to upgrade to electric cars with transport exclusion, he argued.
It could also “mean bankruptcy for many of the small and micro enterprises that employ over five million people in Poland”, he added.
The Constitution Tribunal (TK) is Poland’s highest court for constitutional affairs and is widely seen as being under the influence of the government. Earlier this year, the EU launched legal action against Poland because, in its view, the TK had violated EU law by challenging its primacy over Polish law.
The @EU_Commission has launched further legal action against Poland.
It says that two rulings by Poland's constitutional court – which found parts of EU law to be inconsistent with the Polish constitution – "violated and challenged the primacy of EU law" https://t.co/DShAPKOBla
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) February 15, 2023
Poland’s current government, which has been in power since 2015, has regularly clashed with the EU over a range of issues, including environmental policies. Earlier this year, Jarosław Kaczyński, chairman of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, accused Brussels of implementing “green communism”.
At Sunday’s elections, PiS finished first but lost its parliamentary majority. Other parties have ruled out forming a coalition with it, which leaves an opposition coalition as the seemingly only viable option for creating a new government.
So far, however, senior PiS figures, including Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, have insisted that, in keeping with tradition, as the largest party in parliament they should be given the first opportunity to form a new government.
Ziobro heads another party, Sovereign Poland (Suwerenna Polska), that has since 2015 ruled in partnership with PiS and whose MPs are elected on the PiS electoral list. However, the two have often clashed, especially over issues relating to the EU, where Ziobro takes a tougher line than PiS.
Donald Tusk will travel to Brussels for talks on unblocking EU funds that have been frozen over rule-of-law concerns under the current government.
Tusk hopes to lead a new government after Sunday's elections gave the opposition a combined majority https://t.co/jtHv3hBsZj
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 20, 2023
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Main image credit: MS (under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
