The debate organised at the European Parliament's plenary session in Strasbourg on Wednesday 14 December regarding the current state of the rule of law in Poland not only reiterated that the dispute between the European Commission and Polish government at the country's constitutional court continues, but also that no amicable solution seems likely.
Since the Polish government's formal rejection of the recommendations sent to it by the European Commission on 27 July as part of the so-called rule of law mechanism (see EUROPE 11657), not a single formal discussion between the two has taken place on this subject. The Commission must now decide whether to launch the Article 7 procedure, which can lead to a member state's voting rights being suspended at the Council of the EU.
Wednesday's Parliament plenary debate on "the situation of the rule of law and democracy in Poland" mainly crystallised around the words of Ryszard Legutko (ECR, Poland), the head of the Law and Justice (PiS) Party delegation, which is currently in power in Poland. Legutko, a former minister for education, in some ways played the role of the Polish government's informal spokesperson, expressing opinions that were widely relayed ahead of the European Parliament debate by the political leaders in power in Poland.
The two parties can at least agree on one thing in this dispute: they are conducting a fruitless discussion. Legutko criticised the European Parliament and Commission which, in his view, are putting on an "Orwellian show", with unfounded accusations that are dishonest. European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans said that such words exactly reflect the whole problem that the Commission has with the current government in Poland – which refuses to debate specifically the recommendations and problems identified, like the non-publication of the rulings handed down by the constitutional court.
The time is therefore not ripe for appeasement because "the situation has not improved", as Timmermans noted at the Parliament debate. He even said he was "very concerned" by Warsaw's latest initiatives, "which threaten to deepen the crisis on the rule of law". In Timmermans' view, the main problem can be summed up as lack of respect for the principles of the existence of the limitations imposed in a majority government democracy, and considering a political "adversary" to be an "enemy". Without revealing the Commission's intentions, Timmermans stated that the college of commissioners would return to this issue "soon".
Timmermans' call for the European Parliament's support found a positive response with most of the political groups. On behalf of the EPP, Janusz Lewandowski (Poland) said he feared a "creeping coup" in Poland, while Birgit Sippel (S&D, Germany) called on the Council of the EU to deal with this issue once and for all. The ALDE, GUE/NGL and Greens/EFA Groups were also very critical of the Polish government. Many MEPs took advantage of this debate to criticise the Polish government's new idea of withdrawing from the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)