EU adopts opinion to express concerns over rule of law in Poland

The European Commission here on Wednesday adopted an opinion concerning the rule of law in Poland, which sets out the concerns of the Commission and serves to focus the ongoing dialogue with the Polish authorities towards finding a solution.

According to a Commission press release, the current concerns of the European Commission related to issues including the appointment of judges to Poland's Constitutional Tribunal and the implementation of the judgments of the Constitutional Tribunal of Dec. 3 and 9, 2015 relating to these matters.

The Commission was also concerned about the Law of Dec. 22, 2015 amending the Law on the Constitutional Tribunal, the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal of March 9, 2016 relating to this law, and the respect of the judgments rendered by the Constitutional Tribunal since March 9, 2016.

The concern over the effectiveness of the constitutional review of new legislation, which had been adopted and enacted in 2016, was also covered by the opinion.

European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said that the opinion presented EU's assessment of the issues at stake, building on the dialogue which started in January. On this basis, the EU stood ready to continue the dialogue with the Polish authorities.

With regard to the next steps, the Polish authorities are invited to submit their observations on the opinion. On the basis of these observations, the Commission would continue to pursue a constructive dialogue with the Polish government with a view to finding solutions to the concerns set out.

If the concerns have not been satisfactorily resolved within a reasonable time, the Commission may decide to issue a rule of law recommendation.

The changes into constitutional tribunal law in Poland have been a matter of interest for the European Commission. Timmermans in mid-January said his office launched an increased scrutiny of the Polish decisions concerning the constitutional tribunal.

The Constitutional Tribunal crisis began in October 2015 with the appointment of five Constitutional Tribunal judges by the Civic Platform government, including replacement of two judges whose terms had not yet expired.

After the Law and Justice party won parliamentary elections in 2015, it made its own appointments to the court and changed the tribunal's decision-making power. A two-third majority vote and mandatory participation of at least 13 of the 15 judges on the Constitutional Tribunal were made mandatory.

The appointments and amendments caused domestic protests and, together with the new public media law, were criticized by representatives of the European Union, including the Venice Commission, which is an advisory body of the Council of Europe.

The Constitutional Tribunal rejected the controversial changes on March 9. However, this ruling has not been officially published by Prime Minister of Poland Beata Szydlo, who claims the decision is invalid.

In April, the European Parliament adopted a resolution voicing "serious concern" over the "effective paralysis" of Poland's Constitutional Tribunal.

A Polish government spokesman responded that the resolution is an effect of the opposition parties' activity, adding that the Constitutional Tribunal crisis should be solved within the country. Enditem