On Tuesday 20 February, at the request of the Polish authorities, the EU ministers responsible for European affairs will be informed of the measures taken or planned to ensure respect for the rule of law in Poland.
The ministers will hear Polish Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar explain the commitments of Donald Tusk’s new Polish government to the rule of law under the so-called ‘Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union’ procedure.
While the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council had indeed scheduled a hearing with Poland on the state of the rule of law for June, the Polish government did not want to wait that long, according to a diplomatic source on Friday 16 February.
The discussion will therefore focus on promises to re-establish the rule of law in the country and on the progress of the various infringement proceedings launched by the European Commission against the former PiS government.
The ‘Tusk’ government wants to get rid of the ‘Article 7’ procedure launched by the Commission at the end of 2017 as quickly as possible, the source added. However, the evaluation of the latter and of the other Member States will be necessary and should take place in the remaining months.
Article 7 of the Treaty states that the EU Council, acting by a qualified majority of Member States, may decide to amend or terminate the measures in response to changes in the situation which led to the imposition of the measures. However, the procedure against Poland has not yet reached the stage (Paragraph 3, Article 7) which provides for the possibility of suspending some of the rights deriving from the application of the Treaty to the Member State in question, including the voting rights of the representative of the government of that Member State within the EU Council.
The two ‘Article 7’ procedures opened against Poland and Hungary remain at the preliminary stage of discussions and, at this stage, Article 7 does not provide for any specific arrangements to bring them to an end.
European Council on 21-22 March. On Tuesday, the General Affairs Council will launch preparations for the EU Spring Summit, which will include a meeting specifically devoted to the euro area. On the agenda will be issues relating mainly to foreign affairs: the EU’s response to Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine, European defence, the Middle East and the EU’s strategic agenda up to 2030.
Aid to Ukraine and the Middle East will be discussed the day before at the Foreign Affairs Council, so there is a risk of overlap, the source admitted. In her view, “an update” of the EU’s position on the Middle East is “probably necessary”, with the priority being to enable humanitarian aid to be delivered to the Gaza Strip.
As requested by the EU27 at the end of December (see EUROPE 13315/3), the Commission is due to present a European Defence Industrial Strategy (EDIS) at the end of February, including a proposal for a European Defence Investment Programme (EDIP). It is on the basis of this strategy and in the light of the military situation in Ukraine and the difficulties encountered by the US in maintaining its aid to Kyiv that the European Council will be asked to provide political guidance.
At a time when Member States are reaching the limit of their own fiscal capacity, we need to step up our collective efforts to develop a European defence capability, according to our European source.
Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the invitation of the Austrian delegation, the Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Borjana Krišto, will have breakfast with the European ministers to discuss her country’s efforts to meet the conditions set by the European Council before it decides to officially open EU accession negotiations with Bosnia-Herzegovina (see EUROPE 13334/18).
Before the EU Spring Summit, the Commission is due to present a report outlining the current state of reform, which will serve as a basis for discussions between the EU27.
See the annotated agenda for the European Council on 21 and 22 March: https://aeur.eu/f/aw7 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)