EU Court Rules Poland's Justice Reforms Violate EU Law

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that Poland's 2019 justice reforms infringe the EU's rule of law. The reforms prevent Polish courts from applying EU law in certain areas and from referring legal questions to the ECJ. The ECJ said the reforms were damaging the independence of judges and undermining the rule of law. The EU has withheld allocating billions of euros to Poland from the EU budget until Warsaw pledges to abide by the bloc's rules. The court also said Poland is "obligated to make the daily penalty payments".