The EU27 ministers for European affairs held, on 30 May, the sixth hearing of Poland and Hungary under the so-called ‘Article 7’ procedure on the Rule of law, which was launched in 2017 and 2018 respectively with regard to the two countries.
These two hearings took place at a time when the European Parliament does not want Hungary to assume the rotating Presidency of the EU Council in 2024 and when new concerns are being raised about Poland.
According to Jessika Roswall, the Swedish Minister for European Affairs, these two hearings have helped to clarify the situation in both countries.
And “there are problems in both countries”, summed up the minister, noting however some recent positive developments.
The Vice-President of the Commission, Věra Jourová, also noted some positive steps, but “serious concerns” remain, she commented at the end of the session.
As far as Poland is concerned, the rulings of the Court of Justice of the EU on the disciplinary regime for judges of the Polish Supreme Court have not yet been implemented, for example. Progress has been made, however, with a reform of the disciplinary chamber, leading the Court of Justice of the EU to lower the daily fines imposed on the country, but the law implementing this reform is currently blocked in the Polish Constitutional Tribunal.
Furthermore, the National Council of the Judiciary still lacks independence as it continues to adopt decisions, said the Vice-President.
In the case of Hungary, she referred to the various cases before the Court of Justice of the EU, particularly those concerning equal treatment. While recent changes have strengthened the independence of the judiciary, “there is still work to be done”.
Berlin has doubts about Hungary and its Presidency of the EU Council
On the sidelines of the meeting, some ministers also took up the European Parliament’s request, which will be put to a mini-plenary vote on Thursday, to ‘skip’ the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU that Hungary is due to hold in the second half of 2024.
When questioned on her arrival in Brussels, Germany’s Secretary of State for European Affairs, Anna Lührmann, expressed “doubts” about the country’s ability to assume the rotating presidency, AFP reported.
The Swedish minister said at the end of the meeting that “the subject was not discussed”, but I expect a rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU to defend the interests of all Member States.
For her part, the Hungarian Minister of Justice, Judit Varga, denounced the “political pressure” being exerted by the European Parliament and accused it in turn of violating the fundamental values of the EU by not respecting the vote of Hungarian constituents.
‘Tusk’ Law
On 30 May, however, the ministers did not discuss a new Polish law, dubbed the ‘Tusk Law’, which is already highly controversial.
Polish President Andrzej Duda announced, on 29 May, that he would sign a bill allowing a special committee to investigate whether the opposition Civic Platform (PO) party, which is currently led by the former European Council President, Donald Tusk, allowed the country to be unduly influenced by Russia.
Earlier in the morning, the Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, had already expressed his particular “concern” about this draft law, which would “deprive members of the Polish parliament of their elected functions without any possibility of appeal”.
Such “a system would call into question European rules on access to an independent judge”.
Later in the day, the Commission published a statement on the subject.
“The European Commission is very concerned by the adoption of a new law in Poland creating a special committee to investigate Russian influence on the internal security of Poland between 2007 and 2022. This new law raises concerns that it could be used to affect the possibility of individuals to run for public office, without fair trial”, the text states.
The Commission reserves the right to take action against Warsaw after analysing this law. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)