The European Commission warned Poland it was “getting very close” to taking the unprecedented step of stripping Warsaw of its voting rights at EU summits, unless it stepped back from reforms that would undermine judicial independence.

Frans Timmermans, the Commission’s first-vice president, said the executive was prepared to take the so-called nuclear option of triggering Article 7 of the EU’s treaties.

The Polish government has faced growing protests in recent days after moving last week to overhaul the entire judicial system, a move that has also triggered the latest in a series of clashes with Brussels.

“If these laws are applied, justice will fall under political control,” Mr Timmermans said after a meeting of all 28 EU commissioners.

They would put the "judiciary under the full political control of the government" and make "the judges serve at the “pleasure of the political leaders," Jean-Claude Juncker’s deputy told reporters.

“These laws would have a very significant negative impact on the independence of the judiciary and would increase the systemic threat to the rule of law in Poland,” he added before urging Warsaw to put the reforms on hold.

Article 7 allows the suspension of a member states’ rights as punishment for persistent and serious breaches of its EU legal obligations, including the independence of courts.