On Wednesday 15 November in Strasbourg, MEPs adopted a resolution calling on the Polish government to comply with the recommendations the European Commission had addressed to it on respect for the rule of law, failing which the so-called Article 7 procedure could be launched against the country’s government (EUROPE 11904).
A vast majority (438 votes, as opposed to 152, with 71 abstentions) of MEPs called on the PiS-led Polish government to respond to the concerns raised by the Commission regarding the legal reforms begun at the end of 2015 and decided to prepare Article 7, which will be ratified if the government does not reverse its measures.
During a debate that morning with MEPs, the First Vice President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, again highlighted the risks that existed affecting the judiciary’s independence in the country. He also underlined the Commission’s action, in this regard, particularly the infringement procedure regarding the courts responsible for common-law and the retirement ages for judges, which is different for women. The First Vice President asserted that the Commission cannot accept the Minister of Justice being assimilated into the General Prosecutor’s Office and having a significant influence on the nominations of the judges and their respective mandates. Mr Timmermans also indicated that at this stage, the Commission had not been reassured by the amendments made by the President of the Republic, Andrejz Duda, to several draft laws and that these amendments could further create “major concerns”. Nonetheless, the Commission will await the opinion from the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, expected in December, to finalise its position, despite the fact that Mr Timmermans had not mentioned the possibility of activating Article 7, on Wednesday morning.
In the meantime, MEPs are preparing themselves for this possibility and the resolution adopted on Wednesday highlights the fact that the situation in Poland presents a “clear risk of a serious violation” of European values, including the rule of law, contained within the EU treaty. The European Parliament has therefore, more precisely, decided to prepare a formal demand calling on the Council to activate the prevention mechanisms contained in Article 7.1, explains the text.
MEPs indicate that, “The Parliament has expressed particular concerns about the separation of powers, the independence of the judicial system and fundamental rights. The resolution calls on the Polish authorities to defend common European values contained in Article 2 of the Treaty on the EU and in the Polish Constitution”.
Beata Szydlo, the Polish Prime Minister, has described this approach as an unacceptable. She also promised to mention these “scandalous” events at the end of last week, during the social summit in Goteborg. She particularly took to task the former European Commissioner, Janusz Lewandowski, from the political opposition party, the PO, who declared that this debate had not focused on Poland but on “the abuse of power in Poland”.
This is not the first time that Parliament has triggered action on Article 7 against a member state. It did so in May against Hungary. The European Commission had threatened to do so before the summer but has not used this kind of language since then and has being counting on the efforts made by the member states at the General Affairs Council, to exert influence on the Polish government. It did explain, however, that it would take a definitive decision once the evaluation of the laws in question have been concluded.
On Wednesday morning, this subject, unsurprisingly, set off a number of visceral reactions at the plenary. The Commission was accused of playing a double game and exceeding its remit by speaking out on the situation in Poland. Ryszard Legutko MEP (ECR), said that the Commission had not requested a dialogue with Warsaw but had imposed an “ultimatum” on it. According to the MEP from PiS, what happened in Spain with the Catalan referendum would never have been treated in the same way by the Commission - effectively by not doing anything - if these things had happened in Poland.
The Italian leader of the S&D, Gianni Pittella, said that the Polish government was not working in favour of the well-being of the country’s citizens, “We are not against Poland, we are against undermining the rule of law”.
Parliament also adopted amendments on women’s rights, as sought by several groups on the left. These amendments focus on making emergency contraception available without prescription and scrapping the law imposing a limit in this connection.
This is the third resolution adopted by Parliament since January 2016 on democracy and the rule of law in Poland. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)