Poland is getting closer to unblocking the EU recovery funds worth almost €35 billion, of which €23 billion are grants, as parliament has just received a bill that aims to depoliticise the Supreme Court, one of the European Commission’s conditions.
To receive EU recovery money, Poland must fulfil the Commission’s so-called “milestones” that mostly deal with the rule of law and judicial issues, including the amendments to the Supreme Court Act, which will be received by the lower house later on Thursday.
As such, “it will fulfil a key milestone indicated by the European Commission on the Recovery Fund”, informed Poland’s European Affairs Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk.
“It took me just over a month of very intensive talks with EC [Commission] representatives. EU Commissioners accepted the proposed solutions in the Polish legal system, which were a condition for the fulfilment of the ‘milestones,’” he added.
The bill was drafted in consultation with Polish President Andrzej Duda, who has recently been heavily involved in the issue of judicial reforms.
Among the measures proposed, it provides that criminal cases of judges will be dealt with by the Supreme Administrative Court, while the Chamber of Professional Responsibility, which currently deals with this, would focus on the cases of advocates and legal advisers.
More generally, the Polish government said it will adopt a “very constructive” approach to financial negotiations with Brussels, Rzeczpospolita journalists have learned – a move that comes as no surprise as Poles are to go to the polls next autumn.
Parliament’s opposition in parliament also seems to want to deal with the issue of judicial reform as soon as possible as its representatives told a press conference that they agree to proceed with a bill on the matter at a future session of the lower house of parliament.
“I appeal to some members of our political camp, but above all to the opposition: let’s go through this law together, quickly, because today the recovery plan means new funds for Poland,” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said at a press conference in Warsaw on Wednesday.
(Bartosz Sieniawski | EURACTIV.pl)
Source: euractiv.com
