On Wednesday 20 December, the European Commission will debate the situation regarding the rule of law in Poland and could possibly decide to activate the so-called article 7 procedure, which would be unprecedented in the EU. After several warnings and recommendations regarding the legal reforms undertaken by Poland since the end of 2015, the Commission might decide to activate article 7. The first phase of which consists of an increasingly intense dialogue or the sending of further recommendations.
On Thursday 14 December, the new Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, stated during the European Summit that his government was expecting the Commission to activate this mechanism. He announced that, "The European Commission will open proceedings against Poland next week, which could produce a suspension of its voting rights in the European Union because Warsaw is not respecting the rule of law”. Speaking on the news channel France Info, Nathalie Loiseau, explained, “If nothing changes by tomorrow, there is a high likelihood that this procedure will begin. It has to be done. France totally supports the Commission in this approach".
The Commission expects a gesture to be made by Warsaw to get the Commission to change its line and not activate a procedure it deemed automatic last July if the decried reforms were introduced. To implement this first phase, it will be necessary for the Commission to obtain a majority of 22-member states. The following phase leads towards sanctions and requires unanimity, despite the fact that Hungary has often indicated that it would veto any approach of this kind.
The head of the ALDE in the European Parliament, Guy Verhofstadt, has called on the Commission not to prevaricate and to indeed activate article 7, “Democracy is currently being dismantled in Poland it is time to take action”. The Belgian MEP also said that this would be a sad day for the Polish people but that this was a necessary step to ensure that the foundations of the EU remained based on fundamental rights and the rule of law. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)