20/12/23 (Agence Europe) – After officially requesting to participate in the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (see EUROPE 13315/7), Donald Tusk's new Polish government announced on Wednesday 20 December that, 8 years later, it would be joining the ‘Friends of the Rule of Law’ group within the Council of the European Union. Hungary is now the only EU country not to join. Poland declares its “support” for the recent conclusions of the Spanish Presidency of the Council, which advocates the continuation of the annual dialogue on the rule of law (see EUROPE 13312/16). It calls for this dialogue not to be based solely on the annual country reports, and for the discussion to be broadened to include respect for the rule of law by EU institutions and bodies. See the Polish government’s statement on X: https://aeur.eu/f/a7b (MB)