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POLAND DISMISSED AS “political” the EU’s decision today to launch unprecedented disciplinary proceedings over its judicial reforms, which Brussels says threaten the rule of law.
The disciplinary procedure could ultimately lead to Poland losing its voting rights in the EU.
“Poland deplores the European Commission’s launch of the procedure foreseen in Article 7, which is essentially political, not legal” in nature, the Polish foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that the move risks undermining “mutual trust”.
Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans told reporters in Brussels that 13 laws adopted by Poland in the space of two years had created a situation where the government “can systematically politically interfere with the composition, powers, the administration and the functioning” of judicial authorities.
Poland’s right-wing Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki shot back on Twitter that “Poland is as devoted to the rule of law as the rest of the EU”.
He said that the “current judiciary reform is deeply needed”, echoing the governing Law and Justice party (PiS), which says the reforms are aimed at banishing the last vestiges of communism from public life nearly three decades after its collapse.
‘Come to its senses’
Morawiecki added that “the dialogue between the Commission and Warsaw needs to be both open and honest. I believe that Poland’s sovereignty and the idea of United Europe can be reconciled.”
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker invited Morawiecki back to Brussels “to continue the discussion” begun at a summit last week, he said on Twitter.
A Polish government spokesperson said that Morawiecki and Juncker were expected to meet on 9 January.
European Council President Donald Tusk meanwhile urged Warsaw to “come to its senses” after Brussels triggered the censure procedure, seen as a “nuclear option” against an EU member state.
“I sincerely hope that the Polish government will come to its senses and not seek a conflict at all cost in a case where it is simply not right,” Tusk said in Krakow, southern Poland, quoted by the Polish PAP news agency.
Tusk, the liberal ex-Polish prime minister and arch-rival of the governing PiS party, added that Wednesday’s “decision (of the Commission) is the consequence of the profound change proposed by the parliamentary majority.”
De-communisation?
The PiS government “adopted a political philosophy according to which democratically chosen political power has the right to place itself above the law, which amounts in practice to the removal of judicial independence in Poland,” Tusk added.
Although it has said it is open to dialogue with the EU, Poland’s government has vowed to push ahead with the controversial reforms.
“We want to continue to reform our judiciary — we owe it to our constituents, it meets the expectations of society,” the foreign ministry said, adding that “we can not accept unilateral and hurtful opinions addressed to Poland”.
The ministry also said that Warsaw was prepared to “defend its positions before the Court of Justice”.
While the PiS government insists its reforms are part of its de-communisation drive, the Venice Commission — a Council of Europe group of constitutional law experts whose rulings member states commit to respect — has also voiced deep reservations.
While Warsaw “speaks of the ‘de-communisation’ of the Polish judicial system, some elements of the reform have a striking resemblance with the institutions which existed in the Soviet Union and its satellites,” the commission said in a recent statement.
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One big problem in Ireland (Not entirely related to this article) is women with kids are encouraged to stay at home and have to depend on their husbands as creche fees are absolutely absurd. The price to put 2 children into my local creche is €1800 per month. This means that skilled women (in some cases men) are staying at home!
In Belgium they are subsidized so that they can work. Even a house cleaner is subsidized. This kind of system stops women having to stay at home to look after the kids and carry out house work and most importantly getting bullied by an unfair husband!
I don’t think subsidies are the way to go here. people here have this ‘the state should pay for my lifestyle choices’ mentality. Isn’t ireland broke? Why not pay a nanny to look after the kids when you are at work instead? have you a family support network, whereby your parents could help out?
Why didn’t you think of the costs a child involves before you had 2 children in the first place? people in westernized welfare state countries seem to just have kids and expect everyone else to pay for it. This doesn’t happen in the US, and it sure as heck doesn’t happen in any realistic state that doesn’t want to end up in the hands of the IMF.
No Lizzy.
Subsidies are the way to go if it means skilled women are going to be working and paying taxes, this will help Ireland. There are women with PHD’s that are staying at home to look after the kids as its not viable to put them into a creche. This is an awful waste of good skill.
No I don’t have a family support network, My parents are gone and my siblings have emigrated.
Also I don’t have 2 kids, I’m thinking about having kids so I suppose I did think of the costs a child involves as I went away and investigated it.
I was simply stating that the system that exists in Belgium encourages women to work and put their children into childcare rather than depending on their husband just in case the partnership falls apart.
It’s a bit of a tangent, but outside of medicine, I’ve never met anyone with a PhD who created anything
On the issue itself; Subsidies = cash, right? Why not make childcare tax deductible? “The people” abuse free cash just as surely as “the politicians.”
Wrong Chuck, in this case Subsidies does NOT= cash!
In Belgium is costs around €250 to send your child to a creche for the month, It costs this little as it is subsidised by the government. This is certainly the case in Kortrijk.
People pay a lot more tax over there alright but their system seems to work alot better than ours when you count in all the subsidies.
@ Lizzie
Clueless comments really.
Many countries subsidize child care, Belgium, Finland, Sweden, Germany, France and many others.
@ Chuck
“I’ve never met anyone with a PhD who created anything”
Astonishing. Who do you think develops pharmaceuticals? Medical devices? Computers? etc etc etc
“It’s a bit of a tangent, but outside of medicine, I’ve never met anyone with a PhD who created anything”
Read the 7th, 8th, 9th & 10th words there…….
I cannot believe it was only in 1990 that rape within a marriage was ok, if a guy had of tried it he would had swiftly got to meet my friend the baseball bat, I know some one who was raped within a marriage and it changed the person she was and the relationship she had with her child was destroyed
No offense to the Irish generation above me, but you guys have so much crap that you should be ashamed of. On a regular basis I’m thankful that I didn’t have to live into that kind of Ireland.
And in fairness I’ve little doubt the same applied to alot of other small countries too.
We still have a long way to go but we’re making progress.
don’t be so sure that the current generation is without it’s faults and skeletons in it’s closets.
It’s great for you to look back and say the past generations had so much crap but alot of this continous and people in their 20′s now are just as capable of doing the same stuff that people did 40-50 years ago and they do.
True, but at least now,with Internet, immigration and improves technology answer education we’re more influenced by the outside and don’t hold onto ideas and assumptions about how things should be as much.
But yea I’ve little doubt the next generation will look back at massive aspects of our lives and wonder “what the hell were they thinking “.
Adrian your living in a dream world with that reproachful look you throw at the past Irish, and the self congratulation of the present. It’s only because of outside influences that Ireland has OSTENSIBLY changed… the EU, internet and the piles of money invested here which allowed thousands travel and form their own identities free of toxic influences form the collective here.
Some things have changed, but we haven’t moved on that much as a nation, despite outside and technological advances. Still ruled by the corrupt, still women get less pay, less opportunites, still lots of pressure to conform, still poor people and the vulnerable are raped in many other ways then sexually,
and if you haven’t occassionaly fought to change the system that is here, you are just as guilty as anyone in the past. if you have, good on ya!
Well done to the women who have come forward with this story, hopefully you are healing now after all the abuse and shame on the men of this country who did this damage to there wives and families , thankfully we are a society who now can get help with most things and move forward……..well done to OWN try and keep going even though you have little funding .
Thumbs up if you blame the church!
What a dumb comment! Sigh….
I am ashamed of being a man
have your say