European Commission v Republic of Poland (C-448/23)
law://eu/cjeu/2023/c-448-23/para_176@2026-11-13
Key facts
Court
Court of Justice · Grand Chamber
Case
C-448/23 · ECLI:EU:C:2025:975
Decided
18 Dec 2025
Procedure
Infringement action
Applicant
European Commission
Defendant
Republic of Poland
Rapporteur
T. von Danwitz
Advocate General
D. Spielmann
Bench
15 judgesK. Lenaerts, T. von Danwitz, F. Biltgen, I. Jarukaitis, M.L. Arastey Sahún, I. Ziemele, J. Passer, O. Spineanu-Matei, M. Condinanzi, F. Schalin, A. Kumin, N. Jääskinen, D. Gratsias, Z. Csehi, B. Smulders
176EU law is thus based on the fundamental premiss that each Member State shares with all the other Member States, and recognises that they share with it, a set of common values on which the European Union is founded, as stated in Article 2 TEU. That premiss is based on the specific and essential characteristics of EU law, which stem from the very nature of EU law and the autonomy it enjoys in relation to the laws of the Member States and to international law. It implies and justifies the existence of mutual trust between the Member States that those values will be recognised, and therefore that the law of the European Union that implements them will be respected (see, to that effect, judgments of 6 March 2018, Achmea, C‑284/16, EU:C:2018:158, paragraph 34, and of 16 February 2022, Hungary v Parliament and Council, C‑156/21, EU:C:2022:97, paragraph 125 and the case-law cited).