Europe is using newfound powers to bring Poland into line

MOST GOODEUEU superhero movies have a scene in which the protagonist discovers—often after some freakish accident—that he or she has developed amazing new powers. The first attempts to use these new powers are unsatisfactory. Shirts are accidentally torn to shreds and bedrooms covered in spider-web. Given time, however, the new abilities are tamed, then mastered. Audiences soon forget how the unlikely powers were acquired and enjoy the crusade, caped or otherwise, for justice and order.Politicians who dream of being superheroes imagine being able to bend foes to their will. How easy life would be if troublemakers quietly fell into line. Look at Europe today, and a superpower may be sprouting. For years Poland has been needling the European Commission, which enforces the treaties binding the 27 member states of the together. Since coming to power in 2015 populists in Warsaw have neutered the judiciary and placed judges firmly under the thumb of the government. For a time the commission wimpishly spluttered about the vital role of the rule of law in Europe, even as its threats and ultimatums were gleefully defied. No longer. Twice this month the Polish authorities have offered to climb down, agreeing to reverse their judicial measures in much the manner the has demanded.