Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal has ruled that the European Union’s Green Deal policies, particularly their implementation through emissions trading directives, are incompatible with the Polish Constitution.
In a judgment announced on Tuesday, the Tribunal stated that certain interpretations of EU law, especially those affecting national energy policy, exceed the competencies conferred upon EU institutions through the European treaties and infringe upon Poland’s constitutional order.
The ruling stems from a case brought before the Tribunal by Polish parliamentarians who challenged the compatibility of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and Directive 2003/87/EC with the Polish constitution. This directive forms a core part of the EU’s climate policy framework, dubbed the “Green Deal.”
“The EU, by imposing on Poland the solutions of the Green Deal that ruin our economy, violates the Constitution of the Republic of Poland due to the fact that Poland was deprived of the right of veto by EU bodies in this procedure,” wrote Law and Justice (PiS) MP Sebastian Kaleta on Facebook following the announcement. Kaleta, who represented the group of MPs behind the legal challenge brought before the court, said the judgment confirmed that attempts to implement measures like emissions trading for buildings and transport would now be unconstitutional.
POLSKA NIE MUSI WDRAŻAĆ ZIELONEGO ŁADU ‼️ PRZEŁOMOWY WYROK TK‼️
UE narzucając Polsce rujnujące naszą gospodarkę rozwiązania Zielonego Ładu łamie Konstytucję RP z uwagi na fakt, że Polska w tej procedurze pozbawiona była przez organy UE prawa weta‼️
Tak orzekł dzisiaj Trybunał… pic.twitter.com/dkwc5c50ww
— Sebastian Kaleta (@sjkaleta) June 10, 2025
At the heart of the judgment is the Tribunal’s rejection of how the EU institutions have interpreted key provisions of the TFEU. According to the ruling, EU bodies effectively circumvented unanimity requirements by classifying sweeping energy policy measures as falling under qualified majority voting. The Tribunal stated that this approach significantly influenced Poland’s sovereign right to determine its energy sources and policy, and therefore should have required ratification under Article 90(1) of the Polish Constitution.
The Court found that this interpretation violated the supremacy clause in Article 8(1), which asserts the Constitution as the highest law in Poland, and reiterated that Poland’s EU membership does not give European institutions a blank check to expand their competencies beyond the scope expressly agreed through the ratification of the European treaties.
“The effect of this judgment is not the loss of binding force of the drafting units of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, but the declaration of non-compliance with the Constitution… of the manner of interpretation of the legal norm,” read the Tribunal’s official press release.
The ruling has far-reaching implications. Kaleta claimed it could lead to a “radical reduction in electricity and heat prices” and block future enforcement of climate measures. He further alleged that the EU’s climate policy amounted to economic theft from Poland.
Several other high-profile conservative politicians in Poland commented on the ruling.
“The Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling protects Polish families from drastic energy bills,” wrote former PiS justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, on X. “What now, Prime Minister Tusk? Will you break the law again and hide the ruling to drive Poles into poverty, or will you behave properly?”
Former Prime Minister Beata Szydło said that “Tusk’s government should be grateful,” suggesting it had now “received a real tool to fight the Green Deal, which it is now supposedly so opposed to.”
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