EU dismisses Poland’s defense of judiciary overhaul

The European Commission’s deputy head, Frans Timmermans, said that the white paper presented by Poland on the country’s judiciary reforms is not an answer the Brussels was looking for. “There was agreement across the table that this white paper is not the answer to the Commission’s recommendations. If this idea that you have the right to reform the judiciary... is understood as the right to put it under political control, then we have a problem,” he said. Back in December, the European Commission gave Poland the March 21 deadline to answer its concern and propose solutions to restore rule of law. The Polish Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that such answer has been submitted. “In its reply, the Polish side presented substantive explanations regarding the European Commission's objections, stressing that the determination of the Polish government to implement the reform of the justice system in Poland is a response to social expectations in this respect, and the adopted solutions do not differ from those existing in other EU Member States,” the MFA statement said. Back in December last year, in an unprecedented move the European Commission asked other EU member states to declare that Poland’s judiciary overhaul constitutes “a clear risk of a serious breach of EU values.” If the states agree, although it’s an unlikely scenario, Warsaw’s voting rights would be suspended. The judiciary overhaul gives the parliament right to appoint 15 out of 25 members of the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS), which nominates judges, and the Supreme Court, which among other things, rules on the validity of elections. It also introduces the possibility to make a complaint regarding any court’s decision from the past 20 years.