Thread by @DaveKeating

The #EUCO summit of EU prime ministers and presidents has just gotten underway here in Brussels.

There are many important issues to discuss, among them soaring #energy prices and a #migration crisis at the #Belarus border.

But the #RuleOfLaw row with #Poland may dominate.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz #Morawiecki struck a defiant tone as he entered the summit, telling journalists he will not change course because of "blackmail pressure".

He repeated the assertion made at EU parliament Tuesday that EU's supreme court is overstepping its authority.

The Polish PM is being supported by Hungarian PM Viktor #Orban, who told reporters there is "a witch hunt in Europe against #Poland".

He said he agrees with Morawiecki that their EU accession treaties didn't establish primacy of EU law. Legal experts disagree.

French President @EmmanuelMacron met with Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki this morning at Brussels airport and shared his concerns about the constitutional court ruling, but stressed he wanted to find a solution.

Dutch PM Mark Rutte was the most vocal about the #Poland situation upon entering #EUCO.

"It's difficult to see how a big new fund of money...could be made available to Poland when this is not settled," he said.

"We have to be tough, but the question is how do you get there".

But German Chancellor Angela #Merkel is taking a much softer approach, telling reporters as she arrived for her (likely) last #EUCO summit that the EU needs to "come back together" on this.

But she added that primacy of EU law is “a core of the EU’s existence".

#EUCO leaders are now starting the summit talking about rising energy prices. They are expected to endorse the Commission's proposed toolbox, but expectations are being ratcheted down for any decisive EU-level action today.

Tomorrow they'll discuss the crisis at Belarus border.

Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez told reporters upon entering #EUCO summit that he will call for:

📈A revision of the way electricity prices are set on the EU's wholesale market
💶Joint EU joint gas purchasing
👮A crackdown on energy speculation

Finnish PM Sanna Marin echoed Sanchez's remarks, saying Europe risks walking into a major crisis as cold weather arrives.

In the long term, she said, the only solution is to increase the EU's energy independence [away from #Russia].

While she tried to dampen tension over the #Poland rule of law issue, #Merkel was keen to stress the seriousness of #Belarus's "state-backed human trafficking" - and the continued failure of the EU to come to any agreement on migrant settlement generally.

Here's more background on today's #EUCO #Poland #RuleOfLaw showdown in this week's WPR Europe Decoder newsletter:
worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/30…