EU-Poland row highlights east-west tensions in Europe

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The European Commission is seeking to censure Poland over what Brussels sees as "systemic threats" to the independence of the country's judiciary.

On Wednesday, the European Union's executive arm launched unprecedented disciplinary proceedings against the member state over its controversial judicial reforms.

"It is with a heavy heart that we have decided to initiate Article 7.1. But the facts leave us with no choice," Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans told reporters.

The proceedings have never before been used against an EU member state and can eventually lead to the "nuclear option" of the suspension of a country's voting rights within the bloc.

The Dutch commissioner said 13 laws adopted by Poland in the space of two years had created a situation where the government "can systematically politically interfere with the composition, powers, the administration and the functioning" of judicial authorities.

The row underlines growing east-west tensions within the European Union, with former Soviet bloc states like Poland and Hungary refusing to toe the Brussels line on several thorny issues including judicial and media independence as well as immigration.

Hours after the announcement of disciplinary proceedings, a defiant Polish president Andrzej Duda went ahead and signed the reforms into law. He accused the bloc of "lying" about the reforms.

European Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans addresses a news conference in Brussels, Belgium on December 20, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Timmermans gave Warsaw three months to remedy the situation, saying Brussels could withdraw the measures if it did.

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said on Twitter it was "a difficult day for Poland, but also for the EU" and said he would meet Poland's new Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki early next month.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s letter to Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. /Twitter Screenshot

EU President Donald Tusk, a former Polish prime minister and arch-rival of the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party, urged Warsaw to "come to its senses" and "not seek a conflict at all cost in a case where it is simply not right."

What’s the dispute about?

Poland's right-wing PiS government began making changes to the judiciary after coming to power in late 2015 and says the reforms are needed to combat corruption and overhaul the judicial system still haunted by the communist era.

Brussels has repeatedly warned that it views the changes as a threat to the democratic principles and rule of law Poland signed up to when it joined the EU.

Duda later said he had decided to sign into law reforms to the Supreme Court and the National Council of the Judiciary pushed through parliament this month by the PiS government.

Poland's President Andrzej Duda arrives for a news conference at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw on December 20, 2017. /Reuters Photo

He defended the constitutionality of his moves insisting that in the "United States the president chooses Supreme Court judges, while the Senate gives its opinion; judges' circles have no say in the matter."

Duda also accused the EU of "lying" about the reforms. "They lie when they say that there are changes in Poland that lead to violations of the rule of law because we are improving democratic standards," Duda told Poland's Polsat commercial television.

What’s next?

The initial phase set in motion by the commission, the EU executive arm, allows member states to "determine that there is a clear risk of a serious breach" of the rule of law.

Such a ruling would need the backing of 22 states out of 28. Any possible sanctions would only come at a second stage and would need the unanimous support of all EU members – apart from Poland.

Hungary has already said it would veto such a move, making sanctions unlikely, but Brussels is hoping the start of proceedings will have significant symbolic power.

People carry a Polish flag during the "Chain of the lights" demonstration against judicial reforms near the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland on December 14, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Poland’s reforms have sparked street protests at home and concern from the US.

Warsaw and the EU have clashed over the reforms for more than a year with little result, with Poland refusing to implement the "recommendations" from Brussels.

The commission has been threatening to trigger article seven for months, but given that the threat of sanctions is no more than theoretical, the EU is trying to come up with other ways of getting Poland to comply.

One idea is to link access to European funding for major infrastructure projects to respect for EU values and rulings, with the EU due to start talks on its next multi-year budget in April.

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Source(s): AFP