The reform also sparked domestic protests.
(Photo: dpa)
Vienna Poland and the EU had been at odds for months. It was about judicial reform, it was about democratic values, it was about EU funding. Finally, the rift was so great that pessimists saw the exit of a large member country imminent.
Now the temporary turning point: Poland’s lower house agreed to the abolition of the disciplinary chamber at the Supreme Court – and thus fulfills one of the demands made in Brussels. This originally planned disciplinary chamber, which according to many Europeans would have virtually ended the independence of the Polish judiciary, is to be replaced by a new “Chamber for Professional Responsibility”.
President Andrzej Duda and the government in Warsaw hope to have settled the most important point of contention in the conflict with the EU over judicial reforms. Above all, however, Duda hopes to gain access to the 36 billion euros in grants and loans from the Corona development fund that Brussels has blocked because of the dispute.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had declared the abolition of the disciplinary chamber, the reform of the disciplinary procedure for judges and the reinstatement of unlawfully dismissed lawyers as a condition for the release of the funds. The proposal submitted by Duda and approved by the two governing parties Law and Justice (PiS) and Solidarity Poland (SP) in the Sejm with 231 to 208 votes now partly meets the demands.
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Politically decisive for Warsaw, however, is whether the EU Commission assesses the law as sufficient to release the blocked billions from the Corona recovery fund. In addition, Poland would no longer have to pay a daily fine of one million euros for the non-implemented ECJ judgment against the Disciplinary Chamber.
The government needs these funds more urgently than ever because of the war in Ukraine, inflation and the upcoming parliamentary elections next year. But the willingness to compromise also seems to have grown in Brussels.
More Handelsblatt articles on the dispute between Warsaw and the EU
The EU Commission described the Polish parliament’s decision on Friday as a “positive step” in the right direction. But it depends on the scope and content of the legislation that is finally passed, said a spokeswoman for the Brussels authority. These would have to be compatible with EU law and address the concerns of the ECJ.
Polish media had previously reported, citing government circles and interlocutors in Brussels, that von der Leyen would announce during her visit to Warsaw next Thursday that she would accept the Polish Corona reconstruction plan under certain conditions.
According to this information, the two parties have agreed to set “milestones”: The first tranche will be paid out in September based on further adjustments to the judicial reform by Warsaw. These would each be examined by representatives of all 27 EU members, who may not veto but demand a debate at an EU summit.
This would provide a pragmatic approach to defusing the crisis that has been causing tension for the past seven years. But it is not a final solution.
PiS’s domestic weaknesses and its dependence on Justice Minister Ziobro have led to months of delays. Any further concessions to Brussels are likely to be another crucial test in the coalition. Von der Leyen, on the other hand, has been accused of sacrificing the rule of law in the EU for geopolitical pragmatism.
“Compromises at home, compromises abroad”
Duda’s bill envisages that the members of the new chamber at the Supreme Court will in future be appointed by the President. The Chamber is to decide whether magistrates who have been suspended for disciplinary proceedings should be reinstated. This affects 474 lawyers and judges across Poland. Some of them had been accused of violating the constitution by turning to European courts, allegedly challenging the primacy of national law over European law.
The reason for the conflict within the Polish legal system is the fact that Poland’s judiciary was divided into two as a result of the judicial reforms. Since 2015, hundreds of new judges have been appointed by institutions that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) considers politicized and illegal. The most important of them, the State Judicial Council, is not affected by Duda’s proposal. Critics and the opposition, which voted unanimously against the law, therefore doubt that the basic problem will change much.
The President’s chief of cabinet summed up the outcome of Thursday’s vote as “compromises at home, compromises abroad.” The PiS remains dependent on the support of the radical SP party led by controversial Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobros, as without them it would lose its wafer-thin majority.
The next step is for the law to pass through the opposition-controlled Senate. If it fails there, it goes back to the Sejm for the final vote. The ruling party therefore needs its junior partner to push through the changes.
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