On Monday 9 April, European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans met Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz in Warsaw, along with other figures like the head of the supreme court.
During a press conference with his counterpart for foreign affairs, Timmermans hailed the re-establishment of dialogue between the Commission and Warsaw when, under the previous Polish government, the two parties were mainly restricted to exchanging letters.
He said he was confident that a solution could be found to the dispute on respecting the rule of law in Poland. But he did not, however, give any green light to Warsaw, nor validate the response that the Polish authorities sent on 20 March to the Commission's last recommendation (see EUROPE 11988).
Concrete steps and actions are needed for the dispute to be finished, Timmermans warned. Warsaw is asked to bring new signs of appeasement to the Commission by next week – a General Affairs Council being scheduled in Luxembourg for Tuesday 17 April – or in the coming weeks. For Timmermans, Poland has not yet given all the responses and it is only at that time that the Commission can say if it is closing the so-called Treaty Article 7 procedure.
The Polish government promised amendments to reduce some of the powers of the minister of justice and to re-establish the same retirement age for male and female judges, but it has not renounced all its reforms aiming to make the judicial system "operational", according to the term used also on Monday by Poland's foreign affairs minister. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)