'EURO-AMENDMENT' PROPOSED IN BILLS AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND: AN ASSESSMENT ATTEMPT ('Euronowelizacja' w projektach ustaw o zmianie Konstytucji RP. Proba oceny)

• Authors: Kustra Aleksandra
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

Following several years of Poland's membership of the EU and after the ratification and entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the idea of a large-scale 'Euro-Amendment' has reached its 'constitutional moment'. In this article the author makes an attempt to compare two proposals providing for a wide-ranging review of the constitution in connection with Poland's membership of the EU. These include a Presidential Bill which was mostly the result of work of the science team established in 2009 by Bronislaw Komorowski, the then Marshal of the Sejm (Sejm Paper No. 3598) and a Deputies' Bill submitted by members of the Law and Justice Party (Sejm Paper No. 3687). The bills amending the constitution discussed in this article reveal the existence of a political impetus for a far-reaching modification of the basic law in relation to matters connected with Poland's membership of the EU. A comparison of the two bills demonstrates that they differ remarkably not only in the content of the proposed constitutional solutions, but also in some of the bills' general underlying assumptions. The Presidential Bill contains (both in the title of a new Chapter Xa and in its provisions) a direct and explicit reference to the European Union.. On the other hand, the Deputies' Bill maintains the existing provisions guaranteeing unlimited scope of delegation of powers, repeating the current wording of Article 90 of the Constitution, which states that such a delegation is made to an international organization or an international institution Different approach has been applied in relation to amendment of Article 227 of the Constitution (proposed only in the Presidential Bill). Differences manifest themselves also in the concept of 'European policy' of the government and in the method of governing the relations between the executive and legislative branches of government in the exercise of competences relating to the EU membership. Therefore, the passing of the 'Euro-Amendment' of Polish basic law will, in fact, depend on the willingness of politicians to compromise to get a qualified majority of two-thirds of votes in the Sejm and absolute majority of votes in the Senate, as required by Article 235 of the Constitution.

Keywords

EN

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW; EUROPEAN LAW; PARLIAMENTARY LAW

• Publisher: Kancelaria Sejmu / Chancellery of the Sejm
• Journal: Przegląd Sejmowy
• Year: 2011
• Issue: 3(104)
• Pages: 31-54
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Kustra Aleksandra

• Aleksandra Kustra, Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika w Toruniu, Wydzial Prawa i Administracji, ul. Gagarina 15, 87-100 Torun, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

11PLAAAA096210