Debate: Threat to democracy and the rule of law in Poland, in particular through the creation of an investigative committee
Date: WEDNESDAY, 31 MAY 2023
Speaker: Didier Reynders
Language: EN

On 26 May, this law was adopted by the Polish Parliament and has then been signed by the President of the Republic. After the publication, this law is now in force. This new law creates a special committee to investigate Russian interference on the internal security of Poland in the period 2007 till 2022. It raises serious concerns in terms of conformity with EU law. As we understand, it grants significant powers to an administrative body which could be used to bar individuals from public office and which hence could restrict their rights. Yesterday, I informed the Ministers during the General Affairs Council about this new development on the margins of the informal hearing of Poland under the Article 7 procedure. As you will be aware, the Commission also issued a statement yesterday. We have also taken note of a press statement issued by the United States Department of State expressing concerns over the potential use of this new legislation to target members of the opposition. Yesterday, I spoke to the Polish Minister of EU affairs, Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk, and today I sent a letter to the Minister requesting additional information on the new law. The Commission will carefully analyse this new law and any further developments in that regard. Based on its analysis, the Commission will not hesitate to take action as appropriate. More broadly, when it comes to the rule of law situation in Poland, I had the occasion to update EU ministers yesterday in the General Council in the framework of the Article 7 hearing on Poland. Overall, despite a number of important positive changes, serious concerns remain. As regards compliance with rulings of the EU Court of Justice relating to the activities of the disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court concerning the Polish judges, you may be aware that the Vice—President of the Court of Justice lowered the daily penalty payment imposed on Poland from EUR 1 million to EUR 500 000 as from 21 April. This is given Poland’s notable progress in complying with the interim measures Order of the Court of Justice of July 2021. However, until today, Poland has still not fully implemented the Order of the Court of Justice of July 2021. The Court of Justice is expected to deliver a final ruling in this case next Monday. The notable progress noted by the Vice—President of the Court in his Order of April concerns in particular the law on the judiciary of 9 June 2022, which aimed at raising the standard of certain aspects of judicial protection. This new law introduced a number of important changes in the Polish legal system, but certain shortcomings still remained. In this context, the Polish Parliament adopted on the 13 January a new law with further amendments to strengthen certain aspects of judicial independence. In February, the President of the Republic referred this new law for review to the Polish Constitutional Tribunal, where it is still pending. The new law has therefore not yet entered into force. The Commission will carry out a thorough assessment of the legislation in force only at the time of Poland’s first payment request under the Recovery and Resilience Plan. It will be important that the final law, as adopted, raises the standards on judicial independence. Let me now turn to the National Council for the Judiciary. The law on the National Council for the Judiciary is one of the central issues in the Commission’s proposal under Article 7. The Rule of Law reports from 2020 to 2022 reiterate the Commission’s serious concerns in relation to the independence of this Council, considering its role in the procedures of judicial appointment – concerns which have also been confirmed by the Court of Justice. The Commission has noted with concern that although the Sejm appointed new judges members of the National Council for the Judiciary in May 2022, no steps were taken to address concerns in relation to its independence vis—à—vis the executive and the legislative branches. Furthermore, the National Council for the Judiciary has continued to adopt decisions and resolutions that cannot be reconciled with its duty to safeguard judicial independence. The National Council for the Judiciary plays a key role in the appointment and promotion of judges in Poland. It is therefore crucial that the concerns expressed in the Commission’s proposal, and further highlighted by the Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights, are remedied as a matter of urgency. As regards the Supreme Court, there are serious doubts as to where a number of its judges, including its first president, comply with the requirements of independence stemming from Article 19 of the Treaty on European Union. Poland has still not taken any steps to implement the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights, which considered as inherently defective the process of judicial appointments to benches of the Chamber of Extraordinary Control and Public Affairs and of the Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court. Yet, these rulings of the European Court of Human Rights are final. Finally, let me turn to the Constitutional tribunal, where serious concerns persist. In February, the Commission decided to refer Poland to the Court of Justice for violations of EU law by the Constitutional Tribunal and its true rulings issues in 2021, which challenged, among others, the primacy of EU law. So far, the Polish authorities have not taken action to address the concerns of the Commission, including those set out in the Article 7 proposal. So you see that we have made the point in the General Council on all the issues that we have discussed since the beginning of the hearings of Poland in the Article 7 procedure, and we have explained the concern of the Commission about the creation of a State Committee that we have seen in the law published in the last days and in force since today in Poland. Thank you for your attention and, of course, I am looking forward for your interventions.