The debate in Strasbourg, France is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. and last four hours, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Ahead of his appearance before EU lawmakers, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote a letter to European Union leaders, reassuring them that his country remained "a loyal member” of the bloc.
But he also also warned the prime ministers and presidents of other member states that the EU was in danger of ceasing to be “an alliance of free, equal and sovereign states.”
The Polish government spokesman said last week that Morawiecki had asked to address European lawmakers to explain Warsaw’s stance in a dispute with Brussels over whether the national constitution trumps EU law.
In a landmark judgment, Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal ruled earlier this month that parts of EU treaties were incompatible with the Polish constitution.
The verdict added to a long-running dispute between the Polish government and EU institutions. It appeared to question a key tenet of European integration and threatened to escalate tension between Warsaw and Brussels.
Since the top court’s verdict, Poland’s ruling conservatives have been accused by the opposition of effectively preparing an exit from the European Union, of which the country has been part since 2004.
Shortly after the ruling last week, the Polish conservative prime minister said that, by judging some articles of the bloc’s treaties unconstitutional in the country, the Constitutional Tribunal confirmed the primacy of the national constitution over EU law.
The Polish foreign ministry has said in a statement that the country's Constitutional Tribunal "reaffirmed the hierarchy of the sources of law" in the country and across the European Union.
It also said that "all obligations arising from both primary and secondary European Union law remain in force and thus, will continue to be fully respected by Poland."
Morawiecki has said in a Facebook post that “all obligations arising from the bloc’s regulations remain in force” and that any talk of a Polexit "is fake news.”
(gs)
Source: PAP