The European Commission (EC) said on Monday it will drop a six-year-old case against Poland over rule of law concerns that could have seen Warsaw lose its right to vote in the bloc’s affairs.
The EC said it plans to withdraw the procedure under Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union, which began in December 2017, after the new centrist government in Warsaw took steps to resolve the issues.
“After more than six years, we believe that the Article 7 procedure can be closed. I congratulate Prime Minister Donald Tusk and his government on this important breakthrough,” said EC President Ursula von der Leyen.
The Article 7 procedure was launched because the previous Polish government took controversial measures, including setting up a special disciplinary chamber for judges and ruling that EU law took precedence over Polish national law.
Brussels saw these steps as a departure from democracy, undermining EU standards and threatening the rule of law in the bloc.
But a new pro-European government came to power in Poland late last year, and since Tusk became prime minister, Poland has launched judicial reforms, reaffirmed the supremacy of EU law and taken other steps to address Brussels’ concerns.
As the EC announced, it “considers that there is no longer a clear risk in Poland that the principles of the rule of law could be seriously violated in the sense of Article 7, Clause 1 of the Treaty on European Union”.
It will present its intention to terminate the Article 7 procedure at the next meeting of EU ministers of European affairs on May 21. Following this consultation, the EC intends to formally withdraw its claim.
Already in February, the EC approved the unblocking of Poland’s frozen EU funds of up to 137 billion euros, marking progress in the field of judicial system reforms.
