The European Commission rejected the government’s application to halt the daily €1 million fines Poland pays for not complying with an interim EU Court measure to suspend the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court, Polish media report.
If Poland were to refuse to pay the fines, another €150 million – the sum for five months – it may be deducted from the EU funds allocated for Poland, private RMF FM radio learnt.
“Until the Commission’s assessment of the letter and the (provided) arguments, payment requests have been suspended. It is a common procedure for receiving such requests, as we have to analyse the arguments. Payment requests are resumed if the Commission assesses that the infringement has not been eliminated,” Commission spokesman, Christian Wigand, told RMF FM.
The Commission has analysed Poland’s request and decided that the country “still has not fully implemented CJEU’s ruling,” he added, meaning that Poland will have to keep paying fines, as EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders informed Poland in a letter sent last week, RMF FM reports.
In its court order from July 2021, the EU Court obliged Poland to suspend the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court, citing a lack of independence and possibly irreversible damage to the EU legal order if it would continue to function.
Established in 2018, the European Commission or the EU Court of Justice has never viewed the Disciplinary Chamber as legitimate. Although it is government-controlled, the Commission was concerned it could have been used as a political tool to persecute judges critical of the Polish government.
Since Poland failed to implement the ruling, the Court imposed €1 million daily fines on the country.
While Poland rejected the EU court’s decision and refused to pay fines, Brussels regularly deducts them from the EU funds.
Aiming to find a solution, Polish authorities argued that the bill that came into force last July dissolved the Disciplinary Chamber and replaced it with the Professional Liability Chamber, as proposed by President Andrzej Duda. However, the Commission was not convinced the new body would guarantee judiciary independence.
The fallout is also why the Commission continues to suspend the money for Poland from the Recovery and Resilience Facility, which may not help the ruling Law and Justice (PiS, ECR) party in its campaign for the general elections scheduled for later this year.
Judiciary reforms have been a bone of contention between Warsaw and Brussels since PiS came to power in 2015. The Commission believes the changes that PiS pushes undermine the country’s rule of law. (Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | EURACTIV.pl)
Source: euractiv.com
