(Reuters) – The European Commission presented its options – from legal action and withholding funds — in response to a Polish court decision that challenged the supremacy EU law. It stressed that the EU must take action to preserve the bloc’s shared values.

Ursula von der Leyen (executive president of the European Union) stated that the European Commission was currently evaluating this decision.

She said, “But…I can already tell: I am deeply worried” to Strasbourg’s European Parliament ahead of the speech by Mateusz Morawiecki, Polish Prime Minister.

“This decision calls into question the foundations and legitimacy of the European Union. This ruling is an attack on the unity and legality of the European order.

The first is so-called “infringements”, whereby the European Commission challenges legally the Polish Constitutional Court’s decision.

An alternative option would be a conditionality mechanism or other financial tools, whereby money from the EU budget and its post pandemic recovery fund would not be returned to Poland.

“This money is European taxpayers’ money. Von der Leyen stated that if the Union invests more than ever in order to improve our collective recovery, then we need to protect the Union’s budget from violations of the law.”

A third alternative is Article 7 of EU’s Treaties, under which member states can have their rights suspended if they violate core EU values.

She said, “The Polish Constitutional Court today cast doubts about the validity our Treaty” In many ways, this is a full circle.