On Thursday 7 June, the European Commission asked the member states to enable it to organise a hearing for Poland in Luxembourg on 26 June, before assessing Poland's arguments in the procedure that has pitted Warsaw against the Commission since December 2017 over the non-respect of rule of law in Polish legislation (see EUROPE 11944).
During a new Coreper session on 13 June, the Bulgarian Presidency is expected to decide whether or not to put this hearing on the agenda of this meeting on 26 June, a diplomatic source stated. Poland's hearing corresponds to the last formal stage before the Commission asks the member states to move on, through a vote, to the recognition of a clear risk of violation of the fundamental values of the EU.
This would therefore mean that the Commission has already taken its decision to continue the front opened against Warsaw, although on 14 May it again gave Warsaw a few weeks to respond (see EUROPE 12003).
When questioned about this issue on Friday 8 June, the Commission refused to confirm or deny this information, simply saying that the dialogue continued. European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans may soon visit Poland, but the Commission did not want to give more details on this either on Friday. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)