WARSAW – Years of bitter fighting between Poland and the European Union over allegations that the country’s nationalist government stifles the independence of its courts – which are pumping billions into EU funds – came to a head this week. Went.
Polish Parliament is due to take a final vote on a Bill rolls back some of those reforms, aimed at meeting “milestones” set by the European Commission to release €36 billion in grants and loans from its pandemic recovery fund, amid concerns that Poland Backing down on the bloc’s rule. principles of law.
The Sejm, the lower house of parliament, swung into action on Monday after the Justice and Human Rights Committee removed all 14 amendments added to the bill by the opposition-controlled Senate. The full Sejm, which is narrowly controlled by the ruling United Right coalition, is expected to vote on the full bill by Wednesday. It will then go to the signature of President Andrzej Duda.
However, this would not mean an immediate influx of EU cash; The commission will first have to assess whether the law meets its requirements. Brussels is also pressing Poland to pass a reform of its restrictive law on onshore wind power that has killed almost all new developments – a bill that is due to be voted on Tuesday.
Warsaw is confident that the Commission will accept the Justice Reform Bill.
,[Justice] Commissioner [Didier] The renderers submitted the proposal to the Commission for review and the Commission positively assessed the bill,” said Poland’s EU Affairs Minister Szyman Szynkowski Wel Sec. Said local media monday
The commission did not respond to a request for comment.
The Law and Justice (PiS) party that dominates the government is desperate for Brussels to release the money ahead of parliamentary elections due this fall.
Poland will apply for funds “in the near future in consultation with the Commission”, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki Said RMF FM Radio on Fridays.
PiS needs to show voters that it is capable of making peace with the EU. Inflation is coming down, but is expected to remain in double digits until 2023. Economic growth is forecast to be below 1 percent this year, down from 4.9 percent in 2022.
The ruling party is also embroiled in a scandal involving ministries giving away public funds to friendly NGOs.
judge and politician
The Justice System law would transfer judicial disciplinary cases from the Supreme Court’s Disciplinary Chamber, which is seen as under government influence, to the Supreme Administrative Court, another top court, but which is considered more independent.
Poland was Kill With a record high daily fine of €1 million from October 2021 for not complying with an EU court order to suspend the controversial disciplinary mechanism.
The draft law would also eliminate sanctions against judges raising questions about the status of fellow judges; Many of the new judges have questionable legal status, thanks to government reforms to how they are appointed.
But critics have warned that this week’s changes are not the end of the road for the fight between Warsaw and Brussels, as the proposed solutions fail to address the core problem – political control over the judiciary.
Jakub Jaraczewski, research coordinator at the Berlin-based NGO Democracy Reporting International, said: “The new law is another minor reform with regard to disciplinary proceedings against judges, but the European Commission needs to implement it fully to realize the law’s milestone regime.” should not be taken as such.” ,
“It would still allow judges lacking absolute independence to oversee disciplinary proceedings against other judges, a key issue highlighted in decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights,” Zarazewski said.
According to Bartłomiej Przemyszinski of Istitia, a judicial organization critical of the government’s efforts to restructure the court system, a third of Supreme Administrative Court judges are not fully independent of political influence.
He was appointed by the politically compromised National Council of the Judiciary, a body reformed by the PiS in 2017 to oversee the European Court of Human Rights. Said The 2021 ruling means it is “no longer providing adequate guarantees of independence from legislative or executive powers.”
“It’s just that Strasbourg has not yet ruled [administrative court judges]Unlike Supreme Court justices,” Przemyszczyk said.
“Once it is done, the government can turn on itself, because it never addressed the core of the problem. It’s like treating a fever without finding its cause,” Przemyszczyk said.