Juncker: Sanctions on Poland unlikely

Head of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said on Thursday that Brussels is in talks with Warsaw over two widely-criticised laws passed by the new Polish government but the EU is unlikely to resort to any punitive measures. Günther Oettinger, the European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, in December called to apply a supervision procedure (Article 7 of the Treaty of the European Union), which would lead to suspending Poland's voting rights. "Now we are in discussions with Poland and I don't want to speculate about further consequences, which could result from the application of Article 7. We are not there, I don't think we will get to that point," he told a news conference in Amsterdam. "Let's not over dramatise... We are not bashing Poland." The EC will debate the rule of law in Poland on January 13.