On Wednesday 7 June, the European Commission decided to launch a new infringement procedure against Poland for failure to respect the rule of law.
This time the focus is on the Polish law on the creation of a special committee to investigate Russia’s exercise of influence over Poland between 2007 and 2022 through political parties such as the Civic Platform. This law, dubbed the ‘Lex Tusk’ by its critics, could result in the leader of this opposition political grouping, the former President of the European Council Donald Tusk, being declared ineligible for ten years (see EUROPE 13190/1).
Faced with the outcry provoked by this law, the Polish President, Andrzej Duda, indicated that he would propose withdrawing the penalty of ineligibility and that the special committee be made up of experts and not elected representatives.
On Tuesday, the chairmen of the EPP, S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA and The Left groups wrote to the OSCE asking it to send an election observation mission to Poland for the parliamentary elections due to take place in the autumn.
In particular, they are concerned that the controversial Polish law “could mainly be used to prevent members of the opposition from taking up office if elected”. In their view, such a law, which criminalises any form of communication with ‘foreign intelligence’, without this term being defined, undermines the freedoms of expression and association and is “a cynical example of exploitation of the Russian aggression against Ukraine” to dissuade political actors, the media and civil society from carrying out their activities.
The European Parliament’s pro-European political groups are also warning of the potentially discriminatory effects of measures such as the creation of new polling stations only in small towns and villages, whose inhabitants generally vote for the government coalition in power, and the 24-hour deadline set for counting votes from abroad.
See the letter from the five political groups: https://aeur.eu/f/7b4 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)