The Polish Prime Minister had told Ursula von der Leyen 'we will not be blackmailed' after the Commission chief vowed to punish his country for challenging the supremacy of European law.
Mateusz Morawiecki clashed with von der Leyen in a fiery debate at the parliament in Strasbourg, telling her that Poland would not bow to 'European centralism' and that a country's constitution was higher than any other law on the Continent.
The PM's robust speech prompted a cacophony of outrage to break out across the benches, while Polish ministers stood up to applaud after he finished.
Von der Leyen said she was 'deeply concerned', adding that 'we cannot and will not allow our common values to be put at risk.'
Referring to the fall of Communism in Poland in 1989, she said: 'The people of Poland wanted democracy … they wanted the freedom to choose their government, they wanted free speech and free media, they wanted an end to corruption and they wanted independent courts to protect their rights.'
'This is what Europe is about and that is what Europe stands for,' she added. 'The recent ruling of the Polish Constitutional Court puts much of it into question.'
Von der Leyen said she was 'deeply concerned', adding that 'we cannot and will not allow our common values to be put at risk'
Mateusz Morawiecki told the parliament in Strasbourg that Poland would not bow to 'European centralism' and that the constitution of a country was the highest law on the Continent
Last week, the Polish Constitutional Court ruled that EU law was incompatible with aspects of the country's constitution.
Morawiecki insisted that there was no reason why this should drive a wedge between Warsaw and Brussels, but maintained that he would not budge on the issue.
'The EU will not fall apart simply because our legal systems will be different,' he said, adding: 'If you want to make a non-national superstate out of Europe, first get the consent of all the European states and societies.'
Meanwhile, he praised the 'strong
