The Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU will be called upon to determine the way forward with regard to the Article 7 rule of law proceedings opened against Poland by the Commission and Hungary by the European Parliament.
Both procedures were on the agenda of the General Affairs Council on Tuesday 11 December (see EUROPE 12157) and a third hearing was organised to hear Poland's arguments about its various judicial reforms. However, at the end of this meeting, no decision was taken on what to do next.
Poland
For Poland, although improvements were made after the Court of Justice's order of 19 October, there are still some problematic issues and there was no question on Tuesday of requesting a closure of this procedure, reported one source.
According to the European Commission, the First Vice-President, Frans Timmermans, said on Tuesday that the legislative amendments to the Supreme Court Act made by the Polish government were going in the "right direction", but they have not yet been signed by President Duda. Twelve Member States took the floor and the Netherlands delegation stressed in particular that the obligation to continue this procedure did not fall with these new amendments.
The hearing lasted two hours and the Commission detailed all the problematic areas which, in addition to the Supreme Court and the hasty departure of some judges (since restored to office), still concern the National Council of the Judiciary or disciplinary measures against critical judges.
Hungary
For Hungary, the exchange of views lasted about 20 minutes. Nine Member States took the floor. In particular, several delegations reportedly referred to their embarrassment over the fate of the Central European University, which has to move part of its activities to Vienna because of the Hungarian government's refusal to renew its authorisation in Budapest.
Frans Timmermans, Vice-President of the Commission, described the infringement proceedings against Hungary and reportedly gave the opportunity to possibly invite associations mentioned in the European Parliament report in the future to ask for further clarification and precision.
The next General Affairs Council will take place on 8 January. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)