The EU Council failed on Thursday 11 October to adopt conclusions on the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the European Union in 2017, with Poland being the source of this block (see EUROPE 12114).
As these conclusions are generally adopted without much issue, this is an unprecedented event. The document now constitutes "conclusions of the Presidency", indicating that a consensus was not reached, but that a majority of countries nevertheless supported the draft text, which is attached.
In session, Poland reportedly again requested that the text highlight discrimination against Jewish and Christian communities in the EU compared to other religions, according to a European source. However, it would not have revisited its demands to soften the section on discrimination against the LGBTI community.
Almost all countries would have spoken. The Luxembourg minister, supported by his Belgian and Italian counterparts, reportedly made a strong intervention to express his dissatisfaction with the results of the negotiations, according to another source.
In front of the press, Austria's minister Josef Moser nevertheless expressed his satisfaction with the result. "Poland told us that it was still important to strengthen measures to respect the rule of law. [...] Poland is working in other sectors in a positive way, but here there is a divergence of views", he said. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)