Brussels, 13/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - It is the turn of the European Parliament to speak out against the actions of the Polish authorities that are paralysing the work of the Constitutional Tribunal and could even constitute a “systemic threat (…) to democratic values and the rule of law in Poland”.
In a resolution on the situation in Poland, which was presented by the EPP, S&D, ALDE, GUE/NGL and Greens/EFA groups and adopted without debate at the plenary session in Strasbourg on Wednesday 13 April (513 votes in favour, 142 against and 30 abstentions), the EP states that it is “seriously concerned that the effective paralysis of the Constitutional Tribunal in Poland poses a danger to democracy, human rights and the rule of law”.
It therefore urges the Polish government to follow the recommendations of the 'Venice Commission' of the Council of Europe (see EUROPE 11510) and “respect, publish and fully implement without further delay the Constitutional Tribunal's judgement of 9 March 2016” (which cancels the reform of its own operations: Ed) and “implement the judgements of 3 and 9 December 2015” on the appointment of new judges.
The Parliament lends its full support to the attempts of the European Commission to begin dialogue with Warsaw in the framework of the rule of law mechanism (see EUROPE 11526). So far, these attempts have had no visible results. The EP feels that if this dialogue should prove unsuccessful, the Commission should “activate the second stage of the rule of law procedure by issuing its rule of law recommendation”.
The ECR, ENF and EFDD groups voted against, having each submitted their own resolution. The ECR, which includes Polish Law and Justice (PiS) members, feels that the “controversy currently surrounding the Constitutional Tribunal” was brought about by the previous Polish government of Ewa Kopacz (Civic Platform, affiliated to the EPP), that the contentious decisions of the Tribunal are illegal and that it is ultimately a matter for the Polish parties to resolve this “controversy”. The ENF and the EFDD mainly wished to protest about the unjustified “interference” of the EU in the internal affairs of a member state. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)