Debate: The ongoing threat for the Rule of law in Poland
Date: TUESDAY, 11 FEBRUARY 2020
Speaker: Věra Jourová
Language: EN

At that occasion, I made the speakers of the Sejm and the Senate, the Minister of Justice, the First President of the Supreme Court of Poland, the President of the Constitutional Tribunal, and the Ombudsman. I carefully listened to the arguments of the Polish Government and explained to them the Commission’s stance. The Commission is committed and available to have an open and fair dialogue to resolve the issues at hand.  At the same time, the Commission will always fulfil its responsibility as the guardian of the Treaties. To that end, it will make use of infringement procedures whenever there are issues of compatibility with Union law. Likewise, the Article 7 process continues as long as the situation points to serious systemic threats to the rule of law.  At our last debate in this House, we informed you in particular about the draft new law governing the functioning of the judiciary. I explained that the draft legislation touches upon matters such as the independence of the judiciary, further raising the Commission’s concerns in this area. For this reason, I sent a letter to the Polish authorities on 19 December 2019. The letter recalled that the Commission wants to work with the Polish authorities to strengthen the rule of law by preventing problems and by working towards resolving them when they arise. I also invited all state organs not to take forward the proceedings on the new draft legislation before carrying out all the necessary consultations. On 16 January, the Venice Commission issued an urgent opinion on this new law raising serious concerns and recommending not to adopt it. On 24 January the new law on the judiciary was adopted by the Sejm, and on 4 February the President of the republic signed the law. This law raises a number of concerns as regards the rule of law. As noted by the Venice Commission, there is concern that this new law may further undermine judicial independence in Poland. It also raises concerns of compatibility with EU law and the Commission is now assessing these issues in detail. I can assure you that the Commission is committed to ensure the full respect of EU law and will take all necessary measures in that regard.  In addition to the adoption of the new law, a number of other developments took place. On 15 January, the Supreme Court issued two judgments implementing the preliminary ruling of the European Court of Justice regarding the independence of the disciplinary chamber. The Supreme Court confirmed the position taken in its ruling of 5 December 2019 and stated that the disciplinary chamber is not an independent court within the meaning of EU and national law.  Furthermore, in a resolution of 23 January the Supreme Court decided that the judges appointed at the request of the new national council for the judiciary, are not permitted to adjudicate cases. The resolution also invalidated all the rulings handed down by members of the disciplinary chamber. Another important development is the fact that the Constitutional Tribunal has been seized on the constitutionality of the approach on judicial independence that had been developed by the Supreme Court following the Court of Justice preliminary ruling on 19 November 2019. On 28 January 2020, the Constitutional Tribunal took an interim decision aimed at suspending the applicability of the Supreme Court’s resolution. As regards the disciplinary regime, you will remember that on 14 January the Commission decided to make a request for interim measures, asking the Court of Justice to order Poland to suspend the functioning of the disciplinary chamber. Meanwhile, I can only observe that the disciplinary chamber continues to operate. To conclude, I regret to say that these recent developments show that the situation is very serious. This is also reflected in the recent decision of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to open a monitoring procedure over the functioning of Poland’s democratic institutions and the rule of law. At the same time, I want to reiterate that the Commission remains ready to continue a dialogue with the Polish authorities to solve the issues at hand. During my visit to Poland, the authorities expressed openness for having such dialogue both at political and technical level.  I trust that we can embark on an open discussion with Poland. Respect for the rule of law is a matter for both EU institutions and Member States, and it is an essential element for the functioning of the internal market based on mutual trust and recognition.