The Vice-President of the European Commission said on Thursday that the new Polish law to dismantle the Supreme Court Disciplinary Chamber does not yet meet the conditions for the Commission to pay out the recovery fund.
Speaking at the European Parliament, Ms Jourova said the bill proposed by Polish President Andrzej Duda does not meet the milestones the Commission needs to transfer the money.
She added: “Poland will have to think about the terms and conditions, and if they don’t respond sufficiently to the legally binding rules for the Polish judiciary, which correspond to the milestones, we will not pay the money.”
MEP Daniel Freund shamed the Commission for making a “deal” with Warsaw, saying: “Von der Leyen has made a bad deal with the Polish government.
“And its commissioners know it.
“This damages her reputation and her authority within the EU Commission.”
Responding to Ms Jourova’s comments, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki acknowledged that his government must meet certain conditions, but added: “Some would be fully fulfilled, others partially”.
He continued: “Nevertheless, I hope for the best. I believe that the first payment of the RRF will be launched between 2022 and 2023 (and we will be able) to spend them on concrete projects.”
The spat came after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) convicted Warsaw in October for failing to comply with a ruling declaring the new disciplinary chamber for judges “incompatible” with EU law.
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The case was brought by the European Commission.
The Court ruled in favor of the Commission, stating that the reorganization of the judiciary “could be used to exercise political control over judicial decisions or to put pressure on judges to influence their decisions.
Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish prime minister of the ruling PiS (Law and Justice) party, said in August that his government was ready to dissolve the controversial institution, without actually doing so.
He accused the EU of “sneaking in” on Polish affairs and complained in an interview with the Financial Times that the EU “held a gun to his head”.
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The Commission says the disciplinary system allows political interference in the courts, in violation of the laws in the EU’s 27 countries, as well as in Poland, which establish the independence of the judiciary.
Poland’s dispute with the EU is already costing the country money.
More funds from the EU’s joint budget of €1.1 trillion are at stake until 2027 as the bloc refuses more difficult money to countries that could channel the money to support policies that undermine liberal democratic principles.
Warsaw says the judicial review was necessary to make courts more efficient and rid them of communist influence.
The nationalist PiS party also says it will not bow to what it calls EU blackmail.