Von der Leyen assures no European funding for Poland unless justice reform

Before everything, disbanding the existing disciplinary chamber and its replacement by an independent and impartial body established by law. Second, reforming the disciplinary regimeDoes not offer guarantees of impartiality and independence according to the EU Court of Justice and is not exempt from political control. Specifically, as Von der Leyen puts it, “Controversial disciplinary violations such as requests to the CJEU or questioning a judge’s status must be eliminated.” And finally all judges affected by sentences Members of the disciplinary board should have the right to review their cases in a new chamber, in a new time frame and on the basis of a new regime.

three conditions

“I will be very clear: No payment will be made until this. three commitments, turned into milestones. “I know some of you are skeptical, but I can assure you that without these reforms, no payment will be made.” This means that the first of the planned payments – 4,200 million euros – can only be made when a new law comes into force that meets all the requirements of the contract. The chairman of the Community Steering Committee further stated that “Poland will need to demonstrate that all judges illegally dismissed before the end of 2023 have been reinstated. Otherwise, no further payment will be made,” he said.

Is everything resolved? “No, definitely not. But we’re moving in the right direction now,” Von der Leyen guessed. And whatever it is, Government of Mateusz Morawieckimeeting the milestones outlined in the bailout plan, it will still have a lot of work to do in terms of the rule of law because its adoption will not mean the end of infringement procedures against Warsaw. Article 7 of the Treaty. Insisting that the CJEU’s decisions remain binding and that the daily fines to which the government is subject will continue to be applied, “We will continue the existing infringement procedures and will not hesitate to initiate new ones if necessary.”

The act of condemnation?

The discussion coincided with the idea that the three Liberal MEPs individually launched –Guy Verhoftstadt, Sophie Int’Veld and Luis Garicano– Placing a motion of no confidence in the European Commission if repayment funds are distributed to Poland before the country carries out judicial reforms. To put this proposal to a vote, the authors of the initiative need the support of one-tenth of the EPs, 71 EPs, and then at least two-thirds of the votes, something very difficult to achieve. “We do not share the decision to approve the Polish plan. We ask you to be very strict in complying with these three conditions, because otherwise we will have no choice but to censor.” Ernest UrtaunThe Greens, the People, the Social Democrats and the Liberals, insist that there can be no euro for Poland if the three conditions set by Brussels are not met.

“Our group will not allow any euros to be paid until the Polish authorities comply with the CJEU’s decisions and adopt the necessary legislation,” the conservative said during the discussion. Siegfried Muresan. “There is not even a euro to finance Poland’s bailout until all the conditions of the CJEU are met,” the Social Democrat recalled. iratxe garcia He said he reminded us that we needed to be “less populist and more responsible” and that the goals could not be met by overthrowing commissions or by giving completely unwarranted no-confidence motions. But “Poland is either delivering the requested reforms or not even a single euro will reach it,” he warned in a message often repeated in lengthy debates. He criticized the Polish MP for Law and Justice, saying, “It seems to me that organizing this ridiculous debate is the specialty of the house, and the level of nonsense exceeds any possible rationality”, Ryszard Legutco.