€137 billion was frozen due to rule of law concerns.
The European Commission has formally approved the release of 137 billion euros for Poland, which had been frozen due to concerns about the rule of law. The Warsaw government has satisfactorily reached important milestones with regard to the independence of the judiciary, the Brussels authority announced on Thursday. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the decision at a press conference in Warsaw on Friday.
The money comes from two sources: around €76.5 billion from the EU Cohesion Fund, which is intended to equalize living standards in member states. On the other hand, the Commission would like to release around 60 billion euros in Corona aid from the EU that has been blocked for a long time. Of this amount, 34.5 billion euros will flow in the form of loans and 25.3 billion euros in the form of grants.
The Brussels authorities cannot decide on the release of Corona aid alone. Member States still have to give the green light. After the change of government in December, Poland received an advance of more than five billion euros from the fund that was created for the recovery of the economy after the corona pandemic.
The PiS government undermined the justice system
The European Commission withheld the money for the country because the previous, long-running PiS government in Warsaw had undermined the judicial system. The EU recently criticized, among other things, a ruling by the Polish Constitutional Court according to which parts of EU legislation are not compatible with Poland's constitution. This decision is considered highly problematic because it could give Polish politicians an excuse to ignore unfavorable decisions by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
The previous national-conservative PiS government in Poland had also implemented highly controversial judicial reforms, which, in the ECJ's view, endanger the independence of judges in that country.
The new Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk, now wants to neutralize the reforms again with his coalition government. During the election campaign before the change of government, he had already promised his compatriots a rapprochement with Brussels to release the blocked aid. Last week, Justice Minister Adam Bodnar presented EU partners with a reform plan to eliminate constitutional deficits. (APA/dpa)