Poland’s lower house of parliament today approved a law reforming the judiciary to allow the release of frozen EU funds. The bill aims to change the disciplinary system for judges, heavily criticized by Brussels, and which prevents the country from accessing €35 billion in EU CoV aid.
“It’s a difficult compromise,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters after the vote. “We must end the dispute with the West, the real enemy is in the East,” he added, referring to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The law still needs to be approved by the Senate and signed by President Andrzej Duda before it goes into effect. According to the government, the European Commission had been consulted before the changes.
“Promising”
EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders described the bill on Twitter yesterday as a “promising step”. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was initially cautious. The bill still needs to be passed, she said. “It still has to pass (…) the second chamber, after which we can analyze the final law.”
The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) small coalition partner Solidarna Polska voted against the bill. The main opposition parties abstained after their proposed amendments were rejected. “This bill does not restore the rule of law,” Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, leader of the opposition PSL Peasant Party, said ahead of the vote.
PiS has been at odds with Brussels since it took power in 2015. Brussels accuses Warsaw of not fully complying with EU laws, particularly regarding the judiciary.