The EU Commission does not use all the options it has to protect the rule of law in Poland.
(Photo: REUTERS)
Brussels It was only on Wednesday that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) sentenced Poland to pay a fine of one million euros per day. The judges saw it as proven that Warsaw is partially overriding the rule of law.
Now, however, the EU Commission is being sued by the European Parliament itself because it has not initiated a corresponding procedure against Poland. In order to understand this legal step, one has to distinguish the different levels on which the dispute between Brussels and Warsaw takes place:
One of these levels is the action brought by the EU Commission against the disciplinary body set up by the Polish government in 2018, which can cause unpleasant judges to be dismissed. The Commission won that action. She is the reason why Poland has to pay a fine.
At the same time, the EU and Poland disagree on whether Poland should receive money from the Corona reconstruction fund. It is now about the new rule of law mechanism – another level of disputes. This has only been in effect since January 1st of this year. It provides that EU funds can be cut if there is a risk of misuse of these funds.
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This may be the case in Poland. Because if there is no independent judiciary, there is no control. There are also concerns in Hungary – about corruption. The Commission is well aware of these allegations. She raised them herself in her constitutional reports.
So everything is prepared to take action against Poland and withhold budget money. That would be faster and more painful than what the EU Commission has achieved in court so far. Still nothing happens. The reason for this is that the EU member states are applying the brakes.
The Commission’s wait is legally questionable
Poland and Hungary have sued the rule of law mechanism. The Member States are waiting for a result and do not want the Commission to activate it until then. There is a political justification for this: It would be very unfortunate if the EU Commission took action against Poland and Hungary, but then had to stop everything because their lawsuit was successful.
From a legal point of view, however, it is questionable. It is the job of the Commission to take action against violations of the rule of law. That’s why she has to do it. That it doesn’t is an omission. It is justified to take legal action against it.
And yet the European Parliament does not have a particularly good chance of success. Because it made a mistake: Its complaint is extremely vague, complains the legal service of the European Parliament itself: “There is a risk that the complaint will be dismissed within a few weeks”, it says in his report.
The reason: MEPs only say generally that the Commission should act. But you should have made it clear who the Commission is actually supposed to take action against and what offense is being committed.
The MPs know that. That they try anyway can again only be explained politically: They want to put pressure on, keep the topic warm, bring it to the public. In Poland and Hungary the impression should not be created that one can simply sit out violations of the rule of law. But if Parliament loses its action, it could do just that.
More: The governments in Poland and Hungary should be shown the limits. However, the MPs have little in hand to enforce their threat.