Meeting in Brussels on Tuesday 27 February, the EU's European and foreign affairs ministers will be informed by European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans about recent developments in the dialogue on the rule of law with Poland.
The ministers are only expected to take note of the state of the situation, without making any decision, a diplomatic source said on Thursday 22 February. According to the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council, this presentation from the Commission on Tuesday will not have any impact on the ongoing dialogue between the Commission and Warsaw.
The Commission launched a so-called 'Article 7' procedure on 20 December on the rule of law, giving Poland three months to respond to a fourth recommendation it has been sent on the subject (see EUROPE 11944).
When the three months have expired (on 20 March), "we will see what the next steps will be", the first source stated. Bulgaria itself is cautious about this issue, stating that the so-called Article 7 procedure has never been used before and that any further step must be analysed carefully.
On Friday 23 February, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he had met Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on the sidelines of the informal EU27 summit, and said he was "optimistic" as the positions of Poland and the Commission move closer together.
The political dialogue between the Commission and Warsaw will run until March and "we will see afterwards". "If it does not succeed", it will be a case of seeing "how we can continue in the framework of Article 7" but for the moment it is "too early" and this is not "the time for a decision", a national diplomatic source commented. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)