{"id":34413,"date":"2022-08-03T02:59:41","date_gmt":"2022-08-03T02:59:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/?p=34413"},"modified":"2022-08-03T02:59:41","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T02:59:41","slug":"poland-digs-in-over-eu-rule-of-law-pressure-politico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/03\/poland-digs-in-over-eu-rule-of-law-pressure-politico\/","title":{"rendered":"Poland digs in over EU rule-of-law pressure \u2013 POLITICO"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party is losing traction in opinion polls, but it isn\u2019t giving any further ground in its rule-of-law dispute with the European Commission. <\/p>\n

And there\u2019s no sign that the EU is planning to release\u00a0\u20ac35 billion in loans and grants from its pandemic recovery fund.<\/p>\n

Warsaw has yet to formally apply to Brussels to release the funds, something it had\u00a0pledged<\/a>\u00a0to do in July. The country\u2019s Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy didn’t respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

“The Polish government is digging in and is preparing a narrative on how the recovery fund is not really needed at all,” said Jakub Jaraczewski, research coordinator for Democracy Reporting International, an NGO. “They\u2019re kind of preparing to lose it.”<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no indication that either side is preparing to give way.<\/p>\n

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week said that Poland had failed to meet the EU\u2019s \u201cmilestones\u201d in rolling back changes to the justice system that violated EU rules by bringing the courts under tighter political control.<\/p>\n

Poland\u2019s ruling United Right coalition passed legislation on July 15 that moves some way toward the Commission’s demands by renaming a controversial chamber on the Supreme Court that disciplines judges. But those measures haven\u2019t gone far enough, von der Leyen\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0Poland\u2019s Dziennik Gazeta Prawna newspaper.<\/p>\n

Poland has yet to reinstate the suspended judges, and the country is still facing fines of \u20ac1 million a day for ignoring rulings on the judicial system from the Court of Justice of the EU.<\/p>\n

\u201cPoland must honor the commitments it made to reform the system of disciplinary measures,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But Warsaw doesn\u2019t plan any further steps to meet those commitments.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Pawe\u0142 Szrot, head of President Andrzej Duda\u2019s cabinet,\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0Polish television: \u201cThe president has already announced that he has ended his activity in this area, the law was adopted, it was presented to the institutions of the European Union.\u201d<\/p>\n

He reiterated the need for a two-sided compromise on the issue and added: \u201cThe president believes that this money should be granted to Poland.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Commission spokesperson declined to comment.<\/p>\n

The issue is a political landmine for the government.<\/p>\n

Inflation in Poland was 15.5 percent in July<\/a>, one of the highest rates in the EU, and government finances are under growing strain. Meanwhile, PiS, the leading party in the nationalist ruling coalition, lost first place to the opposition Civic Platform party in one recent opinion poll<\/a>. That’s a first since 2015 and comes ahead of next year\u2019s parliamentary election \u2014 with the EU cash crucial to reviving its fortunes.<\/p>\n

But getting that money would mean retreating on the government’s judicial reforms, which would be unpalatable to the party\u2019s core right-wing electorate.<\/p>\n

“The party would have to admit a defeat in a policy it has pursued since 2015,” said Jacek Kucharczyk, head of the Institute for Public Affairs, a Warsaw think tank. “That would be a huge blow to the party\u2019s credibility and could lead to a real meltdown in opinion polls.”<\/p>\n

He said that the Commission\u2019s tough stance on rule of law has surprised Warsaw.<\/p>\n

\u201cPiS understood that the deal with the Commission was that it would pretend to undo the reforms, and that Brussels would accept that. But the Commission came under such pressure that it toughened its position,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Now Warsaw is playing a waiting game with the Commission, hoping that it \u201cgets exhausted and throws in the towel by accepting the reforms and releasing the cash,\u201d Kucharczyk said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they\u2019re digging in,\u201d said Jaraczewski. \u201cThe loser in this situation is of course the Polish people, who will not see this money.\u201d<\/p>\n

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