We say 'no' to EU centralism - Polish PM

By Kate Abnett

BRUSSELS, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Poland rejects European Union centralism, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Tuesday and accused the bloc of overstepping its competences, amid a deepening row with Brussels over the rule of law.

"EU competencies have clear boundaries, we must not remain silent when those boundaries are breached. So we are saying yes to European universalism, but we say no to European centralism," Morawiecki told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Brussels has long said reforms introduced by Poland's right-wing government undermine judicial independence, but their row escalated this month when the Polish Constitutional Tribunal challenged a key tenet of EU integration by ruling that parts of the European treaties were incompatible with the constitution. (Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, Kate Abnett)