The previous government destroyed public media and turned it into a party mouthpiece, European Commission Vice-President Vera Jourova said at the Poland of the Future Campus on Wednesday. According to her, it is clear that this situation requires changes.
During the panel “Rule of Law in Practice”, in which Jourová and Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar participated, one of the young participants asked the deputy head of the European Commission whether the process of regaining public media in Poland after the last parliamentary elections was completed legally and rightly?
Jourova admitted that she also followed this process with some concern. “The government explained it as follows: it acted on the basis of previous decisions of the Constitutional Court and such actions were simply necessary to solve the mess left by the previous government,” she said.
Referring to her own views on the matter, she judged that the previous government had destroyed the public media and turned it into a mouthpiece of the party.
This was very clear, so this situation had to be changed
she said.
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According to Jourová, it is very important that public media employ people who can be objective and report objectively on what is happening, regardless of who is in power.
And has the situation improved? You can tell me
– she concluded.
In my opinion she has definitely improved
– Bodnar answered her.
Jourova was also asked about the procedure for applying Article 7 of the Treaty on the European Union, including in the context of the situation in Poland and Slovakia.
As she recalled, Art. 7 is sometimes called an atomic bomb, but – she said – it is not, because it is simply a process that must continue until the situation in a particular country improves. She added that it is for the Court of Justice to decide that there are systematic violations of the rule of law.
In the case of Hungary we obtained such a ruling, and in the case of Poland we decided to suspend this process
– she added.
First of all, the new government has admitted that there is a problem, and for years I heard from the previous government that there was no problem, that Poland had the right to reform the judiciary.
– said Jourova.
According to her, there are also very clear signals from Warsaw that Poland will recognise and implement the judgments of the Court of Justice and the Court of Human Rights. She added that it was very important to get this strong validation.
We are still monitoring the situation in Poland, but the process under art. 7 is suspended. Moreover, Adam Bodnar is a person I trust. I trust that Adam will have the energy and determination to implement the action plan and to do so as quickly as possible.
– said the deputy head of the European Commission.
Bodnar’s face
At one point in her speech, Jourova began talking about what she believed democracy and the rule of law meant. According to her, the parties that will take power are:
They can’t act like they’ve suddenly been given a mandate from God himself. They can’t take everything and silence the media…
– she said.
At that moment the camera showed Adam Bodnar’s face. The face that says it all.
‘The European Union is not a cash machine’
The European Union is not a cash machine – stressed Vera Jourova, deputy head of the EC, on Wednesday during the Poland of the Future Campus. In case of violation of the rule of law, we can freeze European funds, and this is what we are currently doing in the case of Hungary, she recalled.
The meeting with the deputy head of the European Commission was led by the head of the Ministry of Justice, Adam Bodnar, who asked her, among other things, whether, when she took over as deputy head of the European Commission and commissioner responsible for the rule of law, she would have sufficient tools to keep the situation in the countries of the European Union under control.
I have never wanted to control the behaviour of the Member States. I have always wanted to have an open dialogue
Jourova emphasized.
She recalled the United Right government, which in her view reformed the legal system in such a way that it led to the end of the independent judiciary in Poland.
In 2019, we started to realise that something had to be done. We decided to publish a rule of law report every year. It seems boring, some say, but it is a great tool because we do an analysis in every Member State. We check, among other things: control mechanisms, media freedom, and I really wanted this report to cover all Member States. So that Poland or Hungary don’t say that we are focusing on these countries
– she said.
Another and more powerful instrument – as Jourova noted, “somewhat draconian” – turned out to be financial sanctions.
If the rule of law is violated, we can freeze European funds. And this is exactly what we are doing in the case of Hungary
– she added.
She recalled that the principle of conditionality means that the final say does not lie with the EC, but with the Member States, and specifically with the Finance Ministers of these countries, who take the final decision to block the funds.
And currently the payment of about 10 billion euros to Hungary is blocked, so it is really a lot of money
– she noted.
She also recalled the resistance of states when the financial sanctions instrument was introduced a few years ago.
There was immediate resistance. When I said on the first day that (…) if someone does not understand the language of values, maybe he will at least understand the language of money. I know it was provocative. Many people criticized this speech. And then I realized that there is a strange belief that EU funds will flow unconditionally to everyone, that the European Union is a cash machine.
– she said.
The EC deputy head also stressed that she was relieved that the CJEU had defined the rule of law, which – she stressed – was particularly important for Poland.
I am referring here to the judgments of 2018 and 2019. The Tribunal ruled that in a country where several institutions are under pressure, that is to say where there is doubt as to whether they are dependent or independent (of politicians), there may be a suspected violation of the principles of the rule of law.
– she explained.
And in the case of Poland, we had to start the procedure under Article 7 (of the EU Treaty) with a heavy heart because these negative phenomena were accumulating, including: with regard to the Constitutional Tribunal or the National Council of the Judiciary. The situation there simply forced us to start this procedure
– she added.
Jourova also stressed that talking about the rule of law is not just theorizing.
This is a way to govern and create a democratic system
– she emphasized.
I always ask myself one question: are we strong enough – not only in the central part of the European Union, but also in other countries – to resist the charm of a strong hand. We live in difficult times, many citizens are frustrated by energy prices and inflation and react badly to uncertainty. In times like these, the temptation can be great to believe in someone who will rule with a strong hand, someone who promises an easy life.
she warned.
mly/PAP/X
Source: wPolityce
Emma Matthew is a political analyst for “Social Bites”. With a keen understanding of the inner workings of government and a passion for politics, she provides insightful and informative coverage of the latest political developments.