Poland warns EU over judiciary overhaul pressure

PM Mateusz Morawiecki presented the European Commission with the white paper on the country’s judiciary reforms, which EU is criticizing and warned that the bloc’s pressure and criticism could backfire. “It can lead to the growth of populist political forces, seeking to dismantle or weaken … the European Union,” the 94-page long document said. Morawiecki after his meeting with the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said that “the talks were very constructive and very promising. We will certainly continue them and I hope that, sooner or later, our views will converge even more, will converge enough to reach a full agreement on the judicial reform we proposed to our citizens.” He also added that he expects more talks on the subject in the near future. European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said that “dialogue continues” and that time previously given Poland to meet the commission's recommendations is not yet up. The documents lay out in detail, the scope of judiciary reforms and argues that they were needed because Polish judiciary was too inefficient, costly, not accountable, and too much rooted in the communist past 28 years after the transition. 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. 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.