European Commission demands Poland review change to top court law - German paper

BERLIN, Dec 23 (Reuters) - The European Commission has sent a letter to the Polish government demanding that it postpone and review a constitutional law amendment passed by the lower chamber of parliament on Tuesday, a German newspaper reported.

The lower chamber, which is controlled by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, gave the measure the green light despite the supreme court and activists saying it would undermine the separation of powers and paralyse the constitutional court.

It would require the 15-member court to pass most of its rulings by a two-thirds majority with at least 13 judges present. It could force the court's president to include five judges chosen by the PiS-controlled parliament, or leave the court unable to pass rulings.

Newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Wednesday that Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans had sent a letter to Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski and Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro reminding them of the EU's principles.

"The rule of law is one of the common values on which the European Union is based," the newspaper cited the letter as saying in an advance copy of an article due to be published on Thursday.

The newspaper cited the letter as saying that the Commission is therefore closely monitoring developments that could call the rule of law in a member state into question.

This applies "for example if integrity, stability and the proper functioning of a national constitutional court is undermined," the letter said, according to the newspaper.