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Purveyor

(29,876 posts) Wed Jul 27, 2016, 08:00 PM Jul 2016

EU Gives Poland Three Months To Address Concerns About Rule Of Law

Source: Reuters

The European Commission on Wednesday gave Poland three months to boost the powers of its Constitutional Tribunal, stepping up pressure on Warsaw's euroskeptic government to respect the EU's democratic standards.

Commission deputy head Frans Timmermans said Brussels, with these new recommendations, was taking the next step in a disciplinary procedure that could lead to the suspension of Warsaw's EU voting rights and the freezing of its EU funds.

The move comes after months of largely fruitless diplomacy since Poland's Law and Justice (PiS) party won elections last October and imposed changes on the tribunal and Poland's public broadcaster, which Brussels fears undermine democratic checks and balances.

Following EU and U.S. pressure, the Polish parliament last week passed a new law on the tribunal that fell short of addressing concerns raised by Brussels.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-poland-politics-court-eu-idUSKCN1071DN?il=0

2 replies

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EU Gives Poland Three Months To Address Concerns About Rule Of Law (Original Post) Purveyor Jul 2016 OP

Is this like a "strongly worded letter"? iandhr Jul 2016 #1

It's part of a procedural process under the Rule of Law Framework LanternWaste Jul 2016 #2

iandhr

(6,852 posts)

1. Is this like a "strongly worded letter"?

Reply to Purveyor (Original post)

Wed Jul 27, 2016, 09:04 PM

Jul 2016

Or does this actually carry some weight?

LanternWaste

(37,748 posts)

2. It's part of a procedural process under the Rule of Law Framework

Reply to iandhr (Reply #1)

Thu Jul 28, 2016, 04:21 PM

Jul 2016

It's part of a procedural process under the Rule of Law Framework (part of the EU Treaty) which as three stages. Stage 1 is Commission assessment. Stage 2 (the current stage) is the Commission Recommendation.

In this case, the Commission would recommend that the Warsaw solves the problems identified within a fixed time limit before Stage 3 happens.

Stage 3 is the Follow-up to the Commission Recommendation which has the meat and weight of Article 7 of Treaty on European Union behind it which if not followed, could lead to the suspension of Poland from voting in the EU and freezing its EU funds.

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