THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT HAS SUPPORTED THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION IN THE PROCEDURE CONCERNING POLAND

The MEPs backed the decision of the European Commission to launch the seventh article of the Treaty on European Union concerning Poland. It is reported by Upmp.news with reference to Polish Radio.

The deputies of the European Parliament endorsed the resolution of the European Commission on the launch of the seventh article of the Treaty on European Union concerning Poland. 617 deputy deputies took part in the vote, the resolution was supported by 422 electors, 147 were against, and 48 abstained from voting.

Yesterday, the Vice-President of European Commission Frants Timmermans presented the position in this matter to European deputies, and emphasized that although Warsaw participated in the dialogue with the Commission on Article 7, Brussels is still waiting for its recommendations.

During the debate, the largest factions of the European Parliament supported the position of the European Commission. The opposition was a faction of the European Conservatives and Reformists, which includes the governing party Law and Justice, and some non-factional deputies.

The resolution emphasizes that the MEPs congratulate the December decision of the European Commission on the launch of the seventh article of the Treaty on European Union and support appeals to the Polish authorities to resolve the problems. The European Parliament also called on European Union countries to take swift steps and expressed the hope that Poland would inform about work related to the procedure.

Recall that from 2016 the European Commission conducts proceedings against Poland in violation of the rule of law by the Polish authorities during the reform of the country’s judicial system. In December 2017, the European Commission sent the Council of the European Union a submission on the opening of the procedure for the seventh article of the Treaty on European Union, since, in its opinion, a number of laws passed in Poland in the last two years seriously threaten the independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers into three branches.

On March 8, Prime Minister Mateusz Moravecki and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will talk about the rule of law and Polish judicial reform in Brussels.