In their plenary session on Thursday 1 March, MEPs approved the decision taken by the European Commission on 20 December to launch a so-called Article 7 procedure against Poland for its non-respect of the rule of law.
Voting by 422 votes in favour to 147 against with 48 abstentions, MEPs reiterated their call, which was previously formulated in the civil liberties committee (see EUROPE 11949), to consider Poland as a country at risk of violating the values of the EU. They call on the governments of the member states to identify swiftly this risk of serious violation of the rule of law, as the Commission had proposed on 20 December, in its reasoned proposal. They would like the EU Council, which has not yet adopted the first phase of this Article 7 procedure (recognition of a serious risk), to react as quickly as possible.
"We welcome the unequivocal support of the majority of the Parliament to support the European Commission's decision to use Article 7.1 of the treaty of the EU and to ask the member states to take the measures required", the co-chair of the Greens/EFA Group, Belgian national Philippe Lamberts stated. "The reforms engaged by the Polish government run counter to the principle of the independence of the judiciary. The Polish government cannot free itself of the fundamental rules governing our Union and steer reforms undermining democracy and the rule of law. We also consider it regrettable that the negationist-nature law on the holocaust enters into force today", Lamberts said.
During a debate on this subject on Wednesday evening, European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans reiterated the Commission's concerns that meant the triggering of the procedure and Warsaw being sent a fourth recommendation, to which the Polish authorities must respond by the end of March. Five points are of particular concern to the Commission – especially the discretionary power accorded politically to prolong the mandates of judges, and the fact that the decisions of the constitutional court, the composition and organisation of which also pose a problem, are not all published, thus creating a selectivity in affairs that are published.
Timmermans again stated that relations were better with the new government of Mateusz Morawiecki, which is more inclined to dialogue, but that this dialogue needed essentially to produce results in order to be really useful, which is not yet the case.
The EU Council of Ministers took hold of the file in 2017 and did so again on Tuesday 27 February. A large majority of the member states have supported the Commission's step, even if they have not yet decided anything and have not yet planned at this stage on tabling a decision confirming this risk of serious violation. They would like the difficulties to be resolved via this political dialogue before the end of March and will then decide on the path to follow, if this does not happen. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)