Polish Court rules primacy of national law over European law
In a major challenge to the EU’s legal framework, Poland’s top court has rejected the principle of the primacy of EU law over national legislation in certain judicial matters. The Constitutional Tribunal said some EU treaty articles were incompatible with Poland’s constitution and ruled that the Polish constitution took precedence over EU law. Immediate was the reaction of the president of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, who wrote on Twitter, “Poland’s ruling could not remain without consequences”, adding that he would ask the Commission to take the necessary action.
Ireland backs minimum taxation agreement
Ireland has announced it was joining the OECD international tax agreement for minimum taxation for multinationals. European Commissioner for the Economy Paolo Gentiloni said this was “an important and extremely positive step for the collective efforts of Europe to build a more equitable and stable global tax system”.
Hungary, Poland vetoes EU strategy on children
Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga has announced that her country and Poland had vetoed the conclusions of the EU Justice Council on the Commission’s strategy on the rights of the child. The strategy included actions aimed at ending genital mutilation, tackling online bullying of LGBTIQ youths and improving free movement for rainbow families.
EU commitment on sustainable investment
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the EU was “committed to mobilising at least one trillion euros in sustainable investments by 2030”. She told the Summit on EU sustainable investments that “to achieve climate goals we must invest the equivalent of 2.5% of global GDP every year in energy systems alone”.
Pope Francis’ message on wars
Pope Francis has appealed to world leaders to “buy less weapons and provide more food, less hypocrisy, more transparency, more vaccines and fewer guns”. At the international peace meeting alongside the religious leaders of the world in Rome, Francis traced the road map for a path of peace, saying, “I want to reiterate that war is a failure of politics and humanity, a shameful surrender, a defeat in the face of the forces of evil. We must stop accepting it with the detached gaze of the news and try to see it through the eyes of the people”.
De Blasio abuse of power
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is in the eye of the storm on charges of using members of his escort for family reasons, abusing his power. According to the NY Investigative Department, De Blasio used the agents as a “concierge service”, ordering them to accompany his son Dante back and forth from college or to help his daughter Chiara move home.
Brigette Bardot sanctioned by court
A French court has asked for a €25,000-fine against former actress Brigitte Bardot for calling the inhabitants of Reunion Island “indigenous who still have their wild genes” in a letter addressed in 2019 to the prefect of the French island in the Indian Ocean. BB, 85, a militant for the defence of animals for years, had compared La Réunion to the “devil’s island” with “a degenerate population still steeped in barbaric traditions”.
France beat Belgium in thriller match
AC Milan full-back Theo Hernandez scored a superb 90th-minute winner as France hit back from 2-0 down to stun Belgium and reach the Nations League final at San Siro on Sunday (9.45 pm kick-off). The third-place play-off between Belgium and Italy is in Turin on the same day at 3pm.
