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Poland in response to EU: rule of law not under threat

21 February 2017 00:05 (UTC +04:00)

Poland appeared to dismiss on Monday demands that it implement judiciary reforms deemed essential by the European Commission to uphold the rule of law, raising the danger that Warsaw could be stripped of its voting rights in the 28-member bloc, APA reports quoting Reuters.

The Commission had given Warsaw two months from December to implement measures to protect the powers of the Constitutional Court, after a series of new appointments and reforms appeared to weaken its independence.

The unprecedented monitoring procedure that the Commission launched against Poland more than a year ago could end in Warsaw losing its voting rights in the 28-nation European Union if all other EU leaders agree to that.

Tensions between Warsaw and Brussels have grown steadily since the eurosceptic Law and Justice (PiS) party swept to power in late 2015 and moved to change the way rulings are made at the top court and to exert more control over state prosecutors.

The Polish Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday that it had submitted a response to the Commission's concerns.

In a separate statement on its website, however, it said the changes Poland had implemented had been in line with European standards and had created "the right conditions for a normal functioning" of the Constitutional Court.

"Once again, Poland stressed that the existing political dispute around the principles of functioning of the Constitutional Court cannot be the basis for formulating the claim that there is a systemic threat to the rule of law," the ministry said.