The European institutions will not press the nuclear button against Poland for its attacks on judicial independence and other attacks on the rule of law. The European Commission announced this afternoon that it is closing the sanctioning file opened in 2017 that could have ended in the maximum punishment of the withdrawal of the vote for the Polish Government in the Council of the EU, a measure never applied. “Poland has launched legislative and non-legislative measures to address the concern [de la Comisión] on judicial independence, has recognized the supremacy of EU law [sobre el nacional] and is committed to applying the rulings of the Court of Justice of the EU and the European Court of Human Rights,” the Executive has argued to justify the decisionwhich arrives a few weeks before the European elections.
The step taken this Monday is not yet definitive, since it has to be ratified by the other Member States in the Council of the EU. It is precisely that institution that has not shown excessive enthusiasm for sanctioning Poland since the proposal was launched seven years ago due to the violations of the previous Polish Government, led by the ultra-conservative Law and Justice (PiS, for its Polish acronym). , against judicial independence. Consequently, it does not seem difficult for the Commission’s initiative to be ratified without much difficulty.
With this move, Hungary remains the only state with an open sanction file, through Article 7 of the Lisbon Treaty, and leaves Vikor Orbán a little more isolated, if possible in the Council. Budapest is the other country that has this extraordinary sanction proposal, although in its case it was the European Parliament that launched the procedure in 2018. The rest of the Member States, as in the Polish case, also have the file open for years. without deciding to impose any punishment. However, there is another country that is being watched closely now: Slovakia, the country governed by Robert Fico is the new headache, community sources point out.
It has been barely six months since there was a change of Government in Warsaw. The ultra-conservatives did not renew their majority in the October elections and who had already been prime minister, Donald Tusk, from the European People’s Party family, regained office with the support of a broad coalition. Tusk, who also became president of the European Council, returned to power in Poland with the commitment to undo the path taken during the eight years of the PiS government. In this time, it has already been seen that the European Commission, led by the also popular Ursula von der Leyen, has shown satisfaction with the task begun in Warsaw.
Today, marks a new chapter for Poland.
After more than 6 years, we believe that the Article 7 procedure can be closed.
I congratulate PM @donaldtusk and his government on this important breakthrough.
This is a result of 🇵🇱 hard work and determined reform efforts.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) May 6, 2024
The Commission has denied that it is a political gesture now that the Polish Government is in the hands of the conservative Tusk, at the head of a liberal coalition. “Ours is a risk analysis of a serious violation of the rule of law and, for the first time in many years, we have seen a clear commitment from Poland and some first concrete steps,” argued the community spokesperson for Justice, Christian Wigand. This new scenario has led Brussels to consider that “the analysis of the risks to the rule of law in Poland has changed,” he added.
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Even before this decision, Brussels had proven that it trusted the new Government. In mid-April, it approved the delivery of 6.3 billion euros to Warsaw corresponding to the first payment of the Polish recovery plan. Until then all the money in this fund and the cohesion fund was frozen due to the lack of progress in restoring the rule of law. The Commission then stated that Poland had already taken strong steps in this direction and released the first tranche of funds. And even before, in February, during a visit to Poland, President Von der Leyen had already announced that the money was going to start flowing. In total, the frozen resources then amounted to 137,000 million: 76,500 corresponding to the cohesion funds and nearly 60,000 from the recovery plan.
“I congratulate Prime Minister Donald Tusk and his Government on this important progress. It is the result of their hard work and their determined reform efforts,” applauded the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who is also the candidate of the popular European family, to which Donald Tusk belongs, to repeat in his current position after the European elections that will be held between June 6 and 9. Commission sources explain that the Community Executive has reached the conclusion that “there is no longer a clear risk of a serious breakdown of the rule of law in Poland, and that is why the proposal is intended to be withdrawn.” [de sanción] in a reasoned manner.”
The two elements about which there has been the most concern in Brussels due to the drift of the previous Polish government were its attacks on judicial independence, through the creation of a sanctioning chamber of judges in the country’s Supreme Court. Against it, there was a first ruling from the CJEU and a financial fine on Poland. After that ruling, Warsaw modified the design of that camera, but it was also struck down by European Justice. Finally, its elimination was included as one of the reforms included in the recovery plan. The measure is not yet in force because the country’s president, Andrzej Duda, in connivance with the Polish Constitutional Court (practically tailor-made by the previous ultra-conservative executive), creates obstacles.
Another great concern in the community capital is the rulings of the Constitutional Court that dictated that Polish law prevailed over community legislation. In this case, what the Executive of Donald Tusk and the current Polish parliament have done is to launch a reform of the Constitutional Court, already reformed by the PiS so that it would be similar to it. Meanwhile, Warsaw has committed, the Commission points out, to execute the rulings of the CJEU.
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