Saturday

2nd Dec 2023

EU Commission unmoved by Polish president's veto

  • President Duda’s move came as a surprise. (Photo: Kancelaria Prezydenta/flickr)

The European Commission was not impressed by Polish president Andrzej Duda’s decision, on Monday (24 July), to veto two of the draft laws that the EU executive heavily criticised last week.

The commission's spokesman, Margaritis Schinas, said the EU executive is “following the events and situation in Poland very closely".

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"Things are changing even as we speak," Schinas told reporters only two hours after Duda's announcement.

He confirmed that the college of EU commissioners will discuss the situation in Poland on Wednesday, and decide on the next steps.

"All developments, and all the changes that are going on will be addressed by the commission on Wednesday,” he said.

"This is a political commission, this is up to the political masters to discuss," he added, but declined to call Duda’s veto a positive development.

Schinas recalled that Poland had not responded to commission vice-president Frans Timmermans' invitation to the Polish justice and foreign ministers last week for dialogue.

The EU commission is insisting on dialogue about the rule of law, which the EU executive said had come under threat with the draft laws.

After a weekend of mass protests, Duda unexpectedly announced on Monday that he will send the bill on the Supreme Court back to the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, as well as the one about the National Council of the Judiciary.

Duda’s move came as a surprise, as he is a former member of the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), and seen as loyal to the party’s leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

The bill on the Supreme Court would have forced all members of the court to step down, except for the ones appointed by the president upon the justice minister's suggestion.

Another draft would have given parliament control over the National Judicial Council, the body that appoints judges.

A third bill, which was not vetoed, would allow the justice minister to fire lead judges in lower courts.

All the bills were heavily criticised by Timmermans last week, who said the commission would launch infringement procedure against them, and prepare the launching of Article 7, the toughest sanction procedure against a member state in the EU’s toolkit.

The commission is waiting to see what consequences the veto will have. Duda will propose amendments, and the EU executive wants to see what they are.

“We want to see what changes for the Polish people,” an EU official said.

It remains to be seen whether the EU executive will proceed with the new infringement procedures in some of the areas. In any case, the procedures could only be launched once the laws are enacted.

One legal issue, for which the commission could launch an infringement procedure, is the early retirement of judges, which the commission can argue is discriminatory against women, as the age thresholds are vary between sexes under the new Polish legislation.

Similarly, the commission launched a probe against Hungary in 2012 on the discriminatory nature of the early retirement of judges, when the government lowered the retirement age from 70 to 62 and fired all the judges in-between.

In the case of Poland, the commission could also argue that the country's government is failing to give citizens effective access to justice by undermining the courts' independence. This argument has also been used against Hungary.

On Wednesday, the commissioners could endorse the legal reasoning behind the possible infringement procedures, and give a mandate to Timmermans to launch them whenever the laws are passed and published in Poland.

The EU commission has already launched a separate procedure on the rule of law last year, after Poland put in place controversial reforms on the constitutional court.

That procedure is still ongoing, and the commission is expected to approve a third set of recommendations on Wednesday in order to ask for more information on the Polish government and to warn it of the possible consequences if it went forward with its reform of the judicial system.

Orban vows to defend Poland from EU's 'inquisition'

The Hungarian leader called EU Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans an "inquisitor", allied with George Soros and the Brussels elite, and argued for the EU executive to stop being a political body.

EU Commission sets red lines for Poland on Article 7

The EU executive expects Warsaw to halt the judiciary reform and address concerns over the rule of law, and not to force out supreme court judges, or else the sanctions procedure will start.

Analysis

How Wilders' Dutch extremism goes way beyond Islamophobia

Without losing sight of his pervasive Islamophobia, it is essential to note Geert Wilders' far-right extremism extends to other issues that could drastically alter the nature of Dutch politics — and end its often constructive role in advancing EU policies.

Latest News

  1. Israel's EU ambassador: 'No clean way to do this operation'
  2. Brussels denies having no 'concern' on Spain's amnesty law
  3. Dubai's COP28 — a view from the ground
  4. Germany moves to criminalise NGO search-and-rescue missions
  5. Israel recalls ambassador to Spain in new diplomatic spat
  6. Migrant return bill 'obstructed' as EU states mull new position
  7. Paris and Berlin key to including rape in gender-violence directive
  8. What are the big money debates at COP28 UN climate summit?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  3. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  4. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  5. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  6. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us