The European Commission did not formally decide, on Wednesday 19 September, to refer to the European Court of Justice the issue of the Polish legislation that establishes political control over the country's Supreme Court.
"The College of Commissioners discussed pending infringement decisions, but no decision was taken", a spokesperson for the Commission, Alexander Winterstein, stated. He refused to confirm whether the commissioners had addressed the issue of the respect of the rule of law in Poland following a second hearing at the Council on this issue that continued to leave cause for concern (see EUROPE 12097).
"The situation has not improved", European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said on Tuesday, wondering if Poland would respect a possible ruling of the European Court of Justice.
According to Polish daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, Timmermans presented a plan to the College of Commissioners to refer the case to the European Court of Justice urgently, requiring the Court to impose temporary measures on Warsaw that would suspend application of the contested legislation.
The same day, Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki met the president of the country's Supreme Court, Malgorzata Gersdorf, who has been deposed by the Polish legislation but who refuses to leave her post. The previous day, Morawiecki had spoken to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker about the issue. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic and Mathieu Bion)