European Commission to seek further dialog with Polish gov't

“It is not yet time to take further action against Poland in a dispute with the European Commission over the rule of law in the eastern European state,” Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans. “We have a number of instruments in our toolbox. I believe there is still room for political dialog,” he added. The news was confirmed by radio station RMF FM, which spoke with an unnamed EU diplomat who confirmed that the EC will present it's one page report on Law and Justice (PiS) activity next week, but won't push for sanctions yet. “The European Commission wants to test the moods of member states about Poland and to check which EU countries will support the EC’s further efforts,” the source said. Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski already called the report “biased.” 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.