The EU Commission had withheld the Corona aid because, according to many observers, the Polish government had undermined the independence of the judiciary. Last week in Poland the dissolution of a controversial disciplinary body decided.
At a meeting in Brussels on Friday, the EU finance ministers voted in favor of a corresponding proposal from the EU Commission. The government in Warsaw has made “very important commitments to the independence of the judiciary,” said EU Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni. These would now have to be complied with “before each payment”.
For years, Brussels has accused the Polish government of undermining the independence of the courts with judicial reforms. That is why the Commission withheld the billions in aid for Warsaw planned in the reconstruction fund. Warsaw then announced in May that it had reached an agreement with the EU. At the beginning of June, Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen proposed releasing the funds subject to conditions.
Accordingly, Poland must meet three conditions: a disciplinary chamber for judges of the Supreme Court must be dissolved, the disciplinary system for judges and prosecutors reformed and legal officers who have already been sanctioned given the opportunity to have their case re-examined. Warsaw has already implemented the dissolution of the controversial disciplinary chamber.
EU Parliament not satisfied
However, critics from the Polish opposition and judges’ associations complain that the new law does not allay concerns about political influence on the judiciary in Poland. There are also doubts within the EU Commission as to whether Warsaw is serious about its reforms. The EU Parliament was “concerned” and called on the member states not to approve the proposal to release the funds subject to conditions.
At the meeting of finance ministers, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden expressed their skepticism in a joint letter. In particular, they demanded that in Poland “all judges dismissed and suspended in violation of the requirement of judicial independence” be automatically reinstated. France’s Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said there were abstentions, but no country voted against the Commission’s proposal.
Source: Nachrichten
