The decision by the European commission to launch formal “rule of law” proceedings against Poland sets a dangerous precedent for every EU member state.

Last year the Law and Justice (PiS) party in Poland defeated the Civic Platform party in a resounding victory in both presidential and parliamentary elections. For the first time since communism ended in Poland one party won an overall majority in the Sejm.

This victory came about in good part because millions of Poles had become disillusioned with the previous government’s abuses of power, not least in the media. State special services raiding a magazine editor’s office to snatch a laptop. A top state TV journalist speaking out against PiS at public rallies. Pressure on Rzeczpospolita newspaper to change its editorial line. Skewed coverage of PiS policies and personalities by state TV. And plenty more.

Even as Civic Platform left office it tried another improper manoeuvre: to cram into the constitutional tribunal new judges likely to support its political approach.

Any new national leadership with a democratic mandate for change will take prompt steps against state-owned media that have abused their privileged position. That is what is happening in Poland, where things are especially complicated because of historically unjust advantages and influence enjoyed by former communists.

Similarly with the Polish constitutional tribunal. The changes being brought in by PiS aim to redefine (in ways fully compatible with EU law and European rule of law standards) its role and powers. After these changes the Polish tribunal will have a strong, fair bench of judges, and enjoy far greater powers vis-a-vis domestic legislation than its UK counterpart.

These changes have not gone down well with the demoralised and divided Polish opposition, who are reduced to absurdist clamouring that Poland is slumping into some sort of Putin-style dictatorship. They hypocritically blame the new government for not implementing constitutional tribunal decisions, even though the previous coalition government itself failed to implement dozens of such decisions.

Perhaps not unreasonably, the noise generated by Poland’s political disagreements over the new parliament’s decisions has left other Europeans wondering what is now going on in Poland. If senior Europeans have concerns on this score, they have plenty of ways to take them up in a respectful, constructive way, not least by proposing that the Venice commission look at any especially difficult legal issues.

Instead of patiently leaving normal politics and processes to take their course, the European commission has accepted the Polish opposition’s exaggerated political claims and subjected Poland to EU rule of law procedures. This is the first time that such provisions have been used. It amounts to improperly taking sides in the internal politics of a member state. To make it worse, the very procedure used in this case is itself controversial in EU legal terms.

It makes sense for the EU as a whole to want to make sure that all member states uphold key democratic values. Poland of course has signed up to this principle. But after this commission decision many Poles are now asking searching questions.

Even if the PiS government has overstepped the mark in some respects, why can’t Poland be trusted by Brussels to sort things out? On what evidence has the commission acted? Why has it not acted against other member states where manifestly political manipulation of state media has been seen? The unhappy examples of France and Italy stand out among many.

Above all, what about the European Union’s failure to control its own borders, and the recent mass attacks on women in Germany and other EU member states? Why do the Brussels elite not take these dramatic failings as a warning sign of systemic rule of law failures?

Poland is a huge success story for European integration and democracy. There is scarcely a country in the European Union where the elected president and parliament now have a clearer mandate for change.

The perverse but inevitable result of this ill-judged commission intervention will be to make millions of Poles and many other Europeans wary of Brussels’s power-grabbing. In Europe’s current difficult circumstances we don’t need to give Eurosceptics lots of new ammunition.