Poland will be sued if it breaches Migration Pact, Brussels confirms

Countries that risk undermining the Migration Pact will be met with legal consequences, Brussels has said in a pointed warning to Warsaw.

The European Commission has hardened its official line on Poland and committed to launching legal action against the country if it fails, as it has openly threatened, to comply with the Pact on Migration and Asylum.

The Pact consists of five separate but interlinked laws that lay down rules for all 27 member states to collectively manage the arrival of new asylum seekers. It was approved in May 2024 and is set to enter into force in mid-2026.

“Once adopted, EU law is binding in all concerned member states and once entered into application, the legal instruments of the Pact will be binding in all member states,” a Commission spokesperson said on Monday afternoon.

“If a member state risks delaying or even undermining the implementation of the Pact, the Commission will need to take the necessary measures.”

The remarks represent a turnaround from last week, when Magnus Brunner, the European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, was asked by Euronews if he would commit to launching legal action against Poland for possible non-compliance.

Brunner, who had pledged to do so during his confirmation hearing in November, completely avoided the question and instead praised Warsaw’s actions on the ground.

“Poland is very active in its presidency on these topics when it comes to returns, when it comes to other topics (like) weaponisation,” the Commissioner said. “I think Poland is such an important partner on that (front) and is doing a very active job as the presidency. And the rest has been said.”

Brunner spoke next to Tomasz Siemoniak, Poland’s interior minister, who said that implementing the Pact was “not possible” in his country due to security reasons.

Siemoniak cited the previous arguments voiced by his prime minister, Donald Tusk.

In early February, Tusk told Ursula von der Leyen, the Pact’s main proponent, that Poland was in a “particular position” due to the migration flows instrumentalised by Belarus at the Eastern border and the mass arrival of Ukrainians who fled Russia’s war.

“Poland will not accept any burdens related to the relocation mechanism. This is not an ideological debate,” Tusk said, referring to “huge” migratory pressure.

“If somebody says that Poland is expected to shoulder an additional burden, irrespective of who says that, my response is Poland will not accept an additional burden. Full stop.”

In the aftermath of Tusk’s headline-grabbing comments, the Commission refused to commit to any potential lawsuit, saying it was “not in the habit of answering speculative questions.” The executive was already under scrutiny for U-turning on the suspension of the right to asylum, a radical option that Warsaw contemplates at its border with Belarus.

A similar noncommittal dynamic played out last week during the joint press conference between Brunner and Siemoniak.

But on Monday, the Commsion sought to dispel any doubts about its standing.

“If EU legislation is violated, it is the prerogative of the Commission to open an infringement process,” the chief spokesperson said, noting that this would only happen if “the worst” – meaning non-compliance – came to pass.

Infringement procedures can end up in the European Court of Justice, which has the power to impose daily fines on countries that breach EU law, as Poland did in the past.

The Pact’s central pillar is a novel mechanism of “mandatory solidarity” that will give governments three different options: relocate a certain number of asylum seekers, pay a financial contribution or provide operational support, such as personnel and equipment.

The relocations need to reach 30,000 per year across the bloc, and the financial contributions should total €600 million.

From the start till the end of the negotiations, Poland, together with Hungary, firmly opposed the solidarity mechanism, claiming it would force them to take in migrants against their will. That claim ignores the fact that the pact provides two additional options for managing asylum seekers.

The legislation offers partial or total exemptions for countries under migratory pressure. Von der Leyen has strongly hinted that Poland would benefit from this exemption.