Brussels, 1 June 2016
The European Commission has today adopted an Opinion concerning the rule of law in Poland.
Following the intensive dialogue that has been ongoing with the Polish authorities since 13 January, the Commission has deemed it necessary to formalise its assessment of the current situation in this Opinion. As foreseen in the Rule of Law Framework, this is the first step taken by the Commission in this process. The Opinion sets out the concerns of the Commission and serves to focus the ongoing dialogue with the Polish authorities towards finding a solution.
First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said today: “The rule of law is one of the foundations of the European Union. There have been constructive talks which should now be translated into concrete steps to resolve the systemic risk to the rule of law in Poland. The Opinion adopted today presents our assessment of the issues at stake, building on the dialogue which started in January. On this basis we stand ready to continue the dialogue with the Polish authorities. “
The rule of law is one of the common values upon which the European Union is founded. It is enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union. The European Commission, together with the European Parliament and the Council, is responsible under the Treaties for guaranteeing the respect of the rule of law as a fundamental value of our Union and making sure that EU law, values and principles are respected.
Recent events in Poland concerning in particular the Constitutional Court have led the European Commission to open a dialogue with the Polish Government in order to ensure the full respect of the rule of law. The Commission considers it necessary that Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal is able to fully ensure an effective constitutional review of legislative acts.
The current concerns of the European Commission relate to the following issues:
the appointment of judges to the Constitutional Tribunal and the implementation of the judgments of the Constitutional Tribunal of 3 and 9 December 2015 relating to these matters;
the Law of 22 December 2015 amending the Law on the Constitutional Tribunal, the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal of 9 March 2016 relating to this law, and the respect of the judgments rendered by the Constitutional Tribunal since 9 March 2016;
the effectiveness of the Constitutional review of new legislation which has been adopted and enacted in 2016.
Next Steps
The Polish authorities are now invited to submit their observations on the Opinion. On the basis of these observations, the Commission would continue to pursue the constructive dialogue with the Polish government with a view to finding solutions to the concerns set out. If the concerns have not been satisfactorily resolved within a reasonable time, the Commission may decide to issue a Rule of Law Recommendation. This would mean entering the second phase of the Rule of Law Framework.
