EC not happy with Poland over rule-of-law response. Will seek member states views

According to the Polish Press Agency sources, European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans was not happy with the response he received from the Polish government regarding the changes to the Constitutional Tribunal. “We are not moving forward,” he was reported as saying. Earlier this week, Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said that he considers the matter “closed.” Now, Timmermans wants to ask other EU states opinion on the matter. “The idea is to gauge EU governments’ views and support for moving forward,” said one senior EU official with knowledge of the closed discussion. Timmermans wants the matter discussed as soon as the upcoming March meeting of European affairs ministers. If the situation progresses, Poland could potentially face losing its voting rights in the EU. However, such decision would require unanimity among all other member states, and Hungarian PM Victor Orban, who has himself been previously accuses of undermining democracy, has said he will oppose such bid. In January last year, the Commission launched a rule-of-law probe into whether laws regarding appointing judges in Poland's top court, the Constitutional Tribunal were violating EU standards. The Polish government claims that changes were made in accordance with the law and have improved Polish judicial system.