The European Commission will take steps to punish Poland for challenging the supremacy of EU law, its head has vowed as she condemned Warsaw for “calling into question the foundations of the European Union”.

Ursula von der Leyen, commission president, said on Tuesday that Brussels had three tools to hit back at Poland, ranging from a legal challenge, to a formal sanction that could withhold tens of billions of euros in EU funds, and a political process that has the power to strip the country of bloc membership rights.

“We cannot and we will not allow our common values to be put at risk. The commission will act,” von der Leyen told the European parliament in a strongly critical speech, as Poland’s prime minister listened in the chamber. “This ruling?.?.?.?is a direct challenge to the unity of the European legal order.”