BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's executive gave Poland on Tuesday one month to address concerns over a judiciary overhaul or face a court challenge, stepping up pressure over Warsaw's reforms which critics say undermine the independence of the courts.

The Commission opened legal proceedings against the nationalist government in Warsaw over judicial reforms in July and said on Tuesday that Poland so far failed to address the points that had been raised. 

 It therefore moved to the second phase of the EU's infringement procedure and said it could escalate the case further if Warsaw does not address the concerns in a month.

 "If the Polish authorities do not take appropriate measures, the Commission may decide to refer the case to the Court of Justice of the EU," the Commission said in a statement.

 

 (Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska) </s> WARSAW (Reuters) - Concessions in judicial reforms planned by Poland's ruling party are aimed at signaling to the European Commission that a compromise with Warsaw is possible, but will preserve the most important part of the reforms, the Polish prime minister said.

 On Thursday, the Polish Law and Justice (PiS) party presented plans to change some elements of its judicial reforms in response to European Commission criticism that they threaten to undermine the rule of law. 

 The right-wing Polish government and the European Commission have been at loggerheads for two years changes to the judicial system that the EU executive believes undermine the rule of law by placing more government control over judges.

 Warsaw, which says the changes were necessary to push aside judges left over from the Communist era, had for months declined to make any concessions to Brussels.

 Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Friday he wanted "the essence, most important elements of the reform to remain untouched, but at the same time we are looking at what would allow the other side to say 'Oh, one can reach a compromise with Poland.'"

 The Commission has threatened to punish Poland, including by suspending Warsaw's vote at the EU, if it does not withdraw changes that Brussels said ultimately threatened democracy.

 Under the original judicial overhaul, the justice minister was given the power to fire court presidents without providing justification and subject to no review. The concessions now proposed by the PiS would require the justice minister first to seek the opinion of judges.

 Warsaw would publish unreleased constitutional tribunal verdicts, which had ruled against the appointment of three judges nominated by PiS to the tribunal. The PiS has said those rulings were not valid because they were overturned by new laws.

 It would also equalize the retirement age of female and male judges at 65 years, raising a 60 year limit for women.

 The Polish opposition has criticized the concessions as not going far enough.

 Morawiecki said it was too early to say if the concessions planned by PiS were sufficient to win over Brussels. The proposals "were indeed received very positively" by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, Morawiecki said.

 "But it would be premature to say today what the final reaction of the president will be," Morawiecki said. "For sure his wise perception, his compromise-seeking attitude may be very helpful here," the Polish premier said.

 A spokeswoman for the European Commission said on Friday the EU executive arm will analyze the Polish plan amendments.

 

 (Reporting by Marcin Goettig; Additional reporting by Jan Strupczewski in Brussels; Editing by Peter Graff) </s> WARSAW, March 23 (Reuters) - Concessions in judicial reforms planned by Poland's ruling party are aimed at signalling to the European Commission that a compromise with Warsaw is possible, but will preserve the most important part of the reforms, the Polish prime minister said.

On Thursday, the Polish Law and Justice (PiS) party presented plans to change some elements of its judicial reforms in response to European Commission criticism that they threaten to undermine the rule of law.

The right-wing Polish government and the European Commission have been at loggerheads for two years changes to the judicial system that the EU executive believes undermine the rule of law by placing more government control over judges.

Warsaw, which says the changes were necessary to push aside judges left over from the Communist era, had for months declined to make any concessions to Brussels.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Friday he wanted "the essence, most important elements of the reform to remain untouched, but at the same time we are looking at what would allow the other side to say 'Oh, one can reach a compromise with Poland.'"

The Commission has threatened to punish Poland, including by suspending Warsaw's vote at the EU, if it does not withdraw changes that Brussels said ultimately threatened democracy.

Under the original judicial overhaul, the justice minister was given the power to fire court presidents without providing justification and subject to no review. The concessions now proposed by the PiS would require the justice minister first to seek the opinion of judges.

Warsaw would publish unreleased constitutional tribunal verdicts, which had ruled against the appointment of three judges nominated by PiS to the tribunal. The PiS has said those rulings were not valid because they were overturned by new laws.

It would also equalise the retirement age of female and male judges at 65 years, raising a 60 year limit for women.

The Polish opposition has criticised the concessions as not going far enough.

Morawiecki said it was too early to say if the concessions planned by PiS were sufficient to win over Brussels. The proposals "were indeed received very positively" by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, Morawiecki said.

"But it would be premature to say today what the final reaction of the president will be," Morawiecki said. "For sure his wise perception, his compromise-seeking attitude may be very helpful here," the Polish premier said.

A spokeswoman for the European Commission said on Friday the EU executive arm will analyse the Polish plan amendments. (Reporting by Marcin Goettig Additional reporting by Jan Strupczewski in Brussels Editing by Peter Graff) </s> BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union executive on Tuesday dismissed Poland’s latest defense of court reforms that critics say weaken democracy, potentially paving the way for more clashes with Warsaw after weeks of some rapprochement.

Poland, the biggest ex-communist EU state, stands accused of subjecting its courts to more government control since the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party won power in late 2015.

The bloc has threatened unprecedented punishment, including of suspending Warsaw’s vote, if Poland does not restore the democratic checks and balances.

The European Commission’s deputy head, Frans Timmermans, debated the matter with EU ministers meeting in Brussels after Poland published a “white paper” defending the judicial changes.

The Commission has given Poland until Tuesday to restore the rule of law, or risk proceedings under the so-called Article 7 punishment mechanism.

“There was agreement across the table that this white paper is not the answer to the Commission’s recommendations,” Timmermans told a news conference after the meeting, adding that EU ministers would discuss the matter again next month.

“If this idea that you have the right to reform the judiciary... is understood as the right to put it under political control, then we have a problem.”

Warsaw says it was led by the need to improve efficiency and accountability by removing judges who served in the post-World War Two communist government, which collapsed in 1989.

Speaking to reporters after the ministerial session in Brussels, Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister Konrad Szymanski reiterated the reforms posed no risk to the rule of law.

Warsaw has until the end of the day to come up with a formal answer to the Commission.

Poland’s state news agency PAP quoted the response as saying Warsaw rejects the criticism and refuses to retract the laws, but is ready to assess jointly with the Commission the results of the changes.

After a two-year feud between Warsaw and the more liberal, western EU states, Poland’s new Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has reopened dialogue with the Brussels-based European Commission on the matter.

But Germany’s EU minister Michael Roth on Tuesday said Poland, which may risk losing billions of euros in EU handouts as an indirect consequence of the dispute, must not just play for time.

“Talking for talking’s sake is not enough and I hope that today... will give a clear signal that EU members support the European Commission in this essential matter,” Roth said.

The top sanction of stripping Poland of its voting rights is all but certain not to materialize as Warsaw’s ally Hungary - where the eurosceptic Prime Minister Viktor Orban has plenty of his own clashes with the EU - has vowed to block it.

But the sole fact that the EU has been debating it, albeit reluctantly, for months now causes damage to Poland’s reputation and highlights its growing isolation in the EU.

The bloc lacks hard tools to force Warsaw back into line on the courts specifically.

But, as ties between Poland and the wealthier net payers to the EU’s joint coffers sour, it raises the risk that they would retaliate by stripping Warsaw of some funding in bloc’s the next, long-term budget from 2021.

Speaking in Warsaw on Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel hoped Poland’s ruling nationalists would satisfy Europe’s concerns. Morawiecki responded that he hoped for a deal over the coming two months. </s> WARSAW: Poland's lower house of parliament on Thursday approved changes to judiciary reforms in a bid to soothe European Union concerns that the rule of law in Poland would be weakened.

After a two-year standoff between the bloc's largest ex-communist member and the more liberal founding states, Poland's ruling nationalists have agreed to take some steps back on a court overhaul they see as central to their reform agenda.

The EU's executive signalled on Wednesday that a deal could be reached very soon, meaning the EU would take off the table a threat to punish Warsaw through a procedure that could go as far as suspending its vote in the bloc.

Warsaw also stands to lose because some EU members have pushed to make access to future EU funding conditional on respecting democratic values such as the rule of law and judicial independence.

In Poland, however, Supreme Court chief Malgorzata Gersdorf said in a statement that the concessions offered by PiS were "illusory".

"The proposed changes ... do not serve the purpose of resolving the ongoing dispute over the rule of law. (They) do not address the most controversial issues," she said in a statement.

After Thursday's late-evening vote, the Senate is expected to approve the new rules on Friday. President Andrzej Duda then has 3 weeks to sign them into law or veto them.

Since its election in 2015, the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) has said its reforms were crucial to make courts more efficient and fair.

It has argued the judiciary was staffed to a large degree by people seeped in communist-era mentality and power structures, and promised to change that. The EU accused PiS of politicizing courts.

Foreign minister Jacek Czaputowicz said on Wednesday that the essence of the reform would not be changed. But PiS is keen for a thaw with Brussels ahead of a series of elections this year and next.

"We want to end this dispute and we want to do it quickly. We want to end the dialogue between the PiS government and the (Commission)," the speaker of the upper house of parliament Stanislaw Karczewski said at a regular briefing on Wednesday.

At the heart of the dispute lie changes to the judiciary that, among other things, would give the justice minister powers to replace court presidents.

Under amendments now proposed by PiS, the minister would have to consult other judges at a court before deciding to sack its head. If their opinion was negative, a national judicial body which is dominated by PiS appointees would then be consulted.

The European Commission also welcomed changes that said a new compulsory retirement age for judges would be the same for men and women. PiS had initially set it at 65 years for men and 60 for women. This would slow down the process of retiring the present judges. </s> BRUSSELS: The European Union's executive on Wednesday said it hoped for a deal "very soon" in a fundamental dispute with Poland over judicial independence and sources said mid-May could be a key date.

After two years of a standoff between the bloc's largest ex-communist member and the more liberal founding states, Poland's ruling nationalists brought in a new prime minister at the turn of the year to seek a thaw with Brussels.

The EU has begun to see Poland, where the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party stands accused of imposing more direct government control on the judiciary, as a test case for the bloc.

Poland also stands to lose because some EU members have pushed to make access to EU funding conditional on respecting democratic values such as the rule of law and judicial independence.

Poland is the biggest beneficiary of EU development aid and wants to keep the money flowing to make up for decades of communist malaise.

This year Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has hence held a series of talks with the European Commission aiming for a deal.

After visiting Poland last Monday, the Commission's deputy head, Frans Timmermans, sounded more upbeat than previously over the row, which started after PiS won power in late 2015.

Speaking to journalists in Brussels on Wednesday, Timmermans praised the "very, very intensive talks" he had in Warsaw and commended Morawiecki for engaging in "genuine dialogue".

"It is in the interest of all of us that in none of our member states there should be a systemic threat to the rule of law. So we are working constructively in the hope of finding solutions very soon," Timmermans said.

Timmermans, formerly a Dutch foreign minister, will update EU states on Tuesday.

Sources said the decisive moment comes on May 14, when the bloc's European affairs ministers are due to decide whether concessions offered by PiS go far enough to take off the table a threat to punish Warsaw through a procedure that could go as far as suspending its vote in the bloc.

At the heart of the dispute lie PiS changes to the judiciary that, among other things, give the justice minister powers to replace court presidents. Under amendments now proposed by PiS, the minister would have to consult other judges before deciding on sacking a court head.

Timmermans also said it was positive that a new compulsory retirement age for judges would be the same for men and women. PiS had initially set it at 65 years for men and 60 for women.

"We need to see deeds, these new ideas being put firmly into law. Otherwise no one will believe it," said one EU diplomat, who also stressed that Timmermans' boss, Jean-Claude Juncker, was very eager to move on from the row.

Poland's chief power broker and PiS head, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, recently put the chances of a deal with Brussels at 80 percent and said it would come "soon".

After Warsaw insisted the judicial overhaul was needed to make courts more effective and rid them of a communist legacy, he said Poland was paying a "bitter" price to end the row.

He also said he was drawing on lessons from Warsaw's chief ally in the EU, the eurosceptic Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has offered some concessions over the years as the EU sounded alarm that he was cracking down on critical media and non-government groups. </s> BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union’s executive on Wednesday said it hoped for a deal “very soon” in a fundamental dispute with Poland over judicial independence and sources said mid-May could be a key date.

After two years of a standoff between the bloc’s largest ex-communist member and the more liberal founding states, Poland’s ruling nationalists brought in a new prime minister at the turn of the year to seek a thaw with Brussels.

The EU has begun to see Poland, where the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party stands accused of imposing more direct government control on the judiciary, as a test case for the bloc.

Poland also stands to lose because some EU members have pushed to make access to EU funding conditional on respecting democratic values such as the rule of law and judicial independence.

Poland is the biggest beneficiary of EU development aid and wants to keep the money flowing to make up for decades of communist malaise.

This year Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has hence held a series of talks with the European Commission aiming for a deal.

After visiting Poland last Monday, the Commission’s deputy head, Frans Timmermans, sounded more upbeat than previously over the row, which started after PiS won power in late 2015.

Speaking to journalists in Brussels on Wednesday, Timmermans praised the “very, very intensive talks” he had in Warsaw and commended Morawiecki for engaging in “genuine dialogue”.

“It is in the interest of all of us that in none of our member states there should be a systemic threat to the rule of law. So we are working constructively in the hope of finding solutions very soon,” Timmermans said.

Timmermans, formerly a Dutch foreign minister, will update EU states on Tuesday.

Sources said the decisive moment comes on May 14, when the bloc’s European affairs ministers are due to decide whether concessions offered by PiS go far enough to take off the table a threat to punish Warsaw through a procedure that could go as far as suspending its vote in the bloc.

At the heart of the dispute lie PiS changes to the judiciary that, among other things, give the justice minister powers to replace court presidents. Under amendments now proposed by PiS, the minister would have to consult other judges before deciding on sacking a court head.

Timmermans also said it was positive that a new compulsory retirement age for judges would be the same for men and women. PiS had initially set it at 65 years for men and 60 for women.

“We need to see deeds, these new ideas being put firmly into law. Otherwise no one will believe it,” said one EU diplomat, who also stressed that Timmermans’ boss, Jean-Claude Juncker, was very eager to move on from the row.

Poland’s chief power broker and PiS head, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, recently put the chances of a deal with Brussels at 80 percent and said it would come “soon”.

After Warsaw insisted the judicial overhaul was needed to make courts more effective and rid them of a communist legacy, he said Poland was paying a “bitter” price to end the row.

He also said he was drawing on lessons from Warsaw’s chief ally in the EU, the eurosceptic Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has offered some concessions over the years as the EU sounded alarm that he was cracking down on critical media and non-government groups. </s> WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland’s ruling party plans to change some of its judicial reforms in response to European Commission criticism that they threaten to undermine the rule of law, one of the party’s lawmakers said on Thursday.

Reacting to the lawmaker’s comments, an EU official said there was a chance the two sides could reach a compromise.

Poland’s right-wing government and the Commission have been at loggerheads for two years over rule of law standards, with Warsaw for months declining to make any concessions to Brussels.

The Commission has threatened to punish Poland, including by suspending Warsaw’s vote at the EU, if it does not withdraw changes that Brussels said ultimately threatened democracy.

It was not immediately clear if the planned concessions would be enough to satisfy the EU’s demands, however.

“This is a step in the direction to ease the concerns presented by the European Commission,” Law and Justice (PiS) party Marek Ast told Reuters. “We hope that these steps will be positively received by the European Commision.”

Under the changes now planned by PiS, the justice minister would first have to seek the opinion of judges before deciding whether to dismiss a court president, Ast said.

Under the original judicial overhaul, the justice minister was granted discretionary powers to replace court presidents without seeking any secondary opinion, without having to provide any justification and subject to no review.

The European Commission has said this, along with several other changes introduced by PiS, has put at risk the independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers in Poland, the largest of the eastern economies in the EU.

Asked if more concessions were possible, Ast said: “We are open to a dialogue with the European Commission. Surprises are possible.”

PiS’s concessions come after the Commission dismissed Poland’s latest defence of its court reforms on Tuesday.

An EU official said Poland has informed the Commission of possible amendments to the judicial reforms, with a view to seeking a compromise before a debate on the bloc’s next long-term budget from 2021 gets under way.

“It looks like things are moving. There’s a chance of a compromise,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

The second concession currently planned by PiS would equalise the compulsory retirement age of female and male judges at 65 years, Ast said.

The initial judicial overhaul set the compulsory retirement age at 60 years for female judges and 65 for male judges, meaning almost 40 percent of Supreme Court judges would be forced into retirement. </s> The European Union's executive branch has launched a complaint alleging Poland has limited judicial independence in the country in violation of EU laws.

The European Commission said Saturday it sent a "letter of formal notice" to Poland to raise concerns that the independence of Polish courts will be undermined by the new "discretionary" powers the overhaul gives the country's justice minister.

The commission says it is especially concerned the justice minister now is entitled to extend the mandates of judges and to dismiss and appoint court presidents.

Warsaw has one month to reply to the notice warning it is infringing on EU laws. The commission may then take further steps.

The Euroskeptic Polish government has said that reforming the justice system is an internal Polish matter.
The European Union says it is optimistic a two-year dispute with Poland's ruling Law and Justice over proposed judicial reforms will be resolved by mid May. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has been engaged in talks on the issue with the European Commission.