MEPs discuss Poland’s revision of its electoral law as well as the new administrative body that threatens civil rights. MEPs had a first discussion during the May II plenary session on the Polish government’s so-called “State Commission for the examination of Russian interference in the internal security of Poland” from 2007-2022. This Commission, created in May 2023, raises serious concerns in terms of conformity with EU law, as it is an administrative body with the power to bar individuals from public office. Furthermore, MEPs focus on the recent judgement of the Court of Justice of the EU, which confirms that Polish justice reform of December 2019 that set up the Disciplinary Chamber for judges infringes EU law - a position that Parliament has repeatedly upheld. Opening statements by Jessika ROSWALL, Swedish Minister for EU Affairs and by Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice.

statement

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

EU mechanism on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights (T)

EU - Poland (T)

REYNDERS, Didier (BE, EC)

ROSWALL, Jessika (SE)

The electoral law, the investigative committee and the rule of law in Poland: opening statements by Jessika ROSWALL, Swedish Minister for EU Affairs and by Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice

SOUNDBITE (English), Jessika ROSWALL, Swedish Minister for EU Affairs, Thank you, President. Honourable Members, Commissioner. In a democracy, free and fair elections are a cornerstone and must be safeguarded. But the preconditions for democracy does not end there. A democratic society demands free speech, fair conditions for political parties, active civil society, independent judiciaries and much more.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jessika ROSWALL, Swedish Minister for EU Affairs, In short, there is no democracy without fundamental rights and the rule of law. They elements of a functioning democracy, as well as the foundation of the European project. That is why fundamental rights and the rule of law is one of the Swedish presidencies priorities. I am therefore grateful to be able and have been invited to contribute to this debate.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jessika ROSWALL, Swedish Minister for EU Affairs, We all know that the EU and the Member States have a shared responsibility to uphold these values. Therefore, the EU institutions must act in accordance with this responsibility. And today's debate on the reasons legislation we introduced in Poland on the State Committee for the examination of Russian influence puts this issue on the agenda.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jessika ROSWALL, Swedish Minister for EU Affairs, To have this debate is in line with this responsibility. Russia's war in Ukraine has clearly shown that we must stand up for democratic principles as a clear alternative to authoritarian states that violate international law and human rights. That is one of the reasons that we are taking this so seriously.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jessika ROSWALL, Swedish Minister for EU Affairs, At this point in time, it is a natural reaction to review Russian influence. It is a legitimate objective, but it must be done in accordance with the principle of the rule of law. It is for the commission to regularly monitor the rule of law situation in the Member States, carrying out its analysis and signal any new developments that, in this view deserves the attention of the Council.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jessika ROSWALL, Swedish Minister for EU Affairs, We also have taken note that the infringement procedures launched by the Commission, and this is the Commission's role as guardian of the Treaties. I am convinced that the Commission will elaborate on this in their commissions and their work to monitor rule of law situation in the Member States, including the Article seven procedure.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jessika ROSWALL, Swedish Minister for EU Affairs, Finally, I just want to inform, as had already been informed in the Parliament, that during the last hearing of Poland in the General Affairs Council in May, it was clear that the process under Article seven will remain on the council's agenda. And the Presidency remains ready to engage with the European Parliament on rule of law issues as it is the case with today's debate. Thank you very much for your attention.

SOUNDBITE (English), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, Thank you, Mr. President, dear Minister, honourable Members, thank you for this debate on electoral law and the rule of law situation in Poland. And allow me to start with the new law on the State Committee for the examination of Russian interference in the internal security of Poland in the period 2007 till 2022.

SOUNDBITE (English), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, As I mentioned two weeks ago in plenary, this is a development that the Commission is following with great concern. On the 26th of May, this law was adopted by the Polish Parliament and has then been signed by the President of the Republic and entered into force. The new law creates a special committee to investigate Russian influence, amongst others, senior public officials in the period 2017 to 2022, to the detriment of the public interest.

SOUNDBITE (English), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, It grants significant powers to this administrative body, in particular to start investigations, to organise public hearings, to clarify certain persons as having taken decisions under Russian influence and to take so-called remedial measures against those persons. This could be used to unduly interfere with the democratic process.

SOUNDBITE (English), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, Following a short assessment, the Commission decided on the end of June to open an infringement procedure against Poland. Among others, the Commission considers that the new law violates the principle of democracy, as well as the principles of legality and non-retractivity of sanctions. But it has been given 21 calendar days to reply to the letter of formal notice.

SOUNDBITE (English), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, And since all last debate last Monday in LIBE, I have continued to exchange with the Polish government, with the Minister of European Affairs, and I want to inform you that I received different comments about the fact that now there is a series of amendments table to the Polish Parliament to change such a law.

SOUNDBITE (English), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, And was an important decision to not select members of the Commission until the new laws or the new amendment will enter into force. But of course we have sent a letter, formal notice to Poland, and we will wait a formal answer before to consider the next step. But with all the action we have seen already some moves in Poland about the legislation, we will see, of course, the results of those moves in the near future.

SOUNDBITE (French), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, But as to the electoral law, the Commission is following this very closely as well. On the 31st of March some amendments to this law were introduced. The new provisions seek to introduce a central register of electors and to make provision for transport for certain electors on the day of the election to film the vote and to organise rules, rules for the counting.

SOUNDBITE (French), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, The organisation of free elections falls within the responsability of a member state, but always under the aegis of the international provisions on fair and free elections.

SOUNDBITE (French), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, And therefore we have rules in Europe on this and the Commission in this context has taken note of the situation. We've also taken note of the requests from a number of the groups to ask the OSCE to organise an electoral observation mission to Poland.

SOUNDBITE (French), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, I would also observed that the Venice Commission feels that election observation is extremely important and it enables us to ascertain whether the electoral process has taken place in compliance with the law. And this is something which must be ascertained when this electoral observation mission is in place.

SOUNDBITE (French), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, It is hoped that that it will be as wide ranging as possible and both encompassing national and international representatives and we will remain extremely vigilant of the rule of law in Poland.

SOUNDBITE (English), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, I had the occasion to update ministers on the touch of Main Digital Affairs Council in the framework of the Article 7 hearing on Poland. The day after, I presented the position of the Commission on this issue in this Parliament. Allow me to recall that at that occasion, I concluded that overall, despite a number of important positive changes, serious concerns remain.

SOUNDBITE (English), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, In addition, let be know that on the 5th of June, the Court of Justice in its Grand Chamber formation delivered a final ruling in one of the infringement cases launched by the Commission concerning Poland. The Court of Justice held that all the provisions contested by the Commission, of the law on the Judiciary adopted in December 2019, infringe EU law, in particular the principles of judicial independence and effective judicial protection.

SOUNDBITE (English), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, You may recall that prior to the Court of Justice judgement, Poland has failed to fully comply with the interim measures set out in this case in an order of the Court of July 2021. For this reason, Poland was ordered by the Court upon request of the Commission to pay penalty payments of €1 million a day. On the 21st of April, the Vice-President of the Court lowered this amount to €500,000 per day in view of notable progress in the implementation of the Court's order.

SOUNDBITE (English), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, This order came to an end with the final judgement of the court as Belarus not paid this penalty payments, the Commission has organise an offsetting concerning European funds due to this Member State. It is not for Poland to take the necessary measures to fully implement the final judgement of the Court.

SOUNDBITE (English), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, The Commission will carefully monitor the implementation of this judgement and the Commission recalls that compliance with rulings of the Court of Justice and with the primacy of EU law are cornerstones of our shared commitment to the rule of law.

SOUNDBITE (English), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, As the Court of Justice underlined in its judgement of the 5th of June, the value of the rule of law is an integral part of the very identity of the European Union as a common legal order, and it is given concrete expression in principles containing legally binding obligations for the Member States.

SOUNDBITE (English), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, Let me reiterate that the rulings of the Court of Justice are binding and must be implemented. The Commission therefore expects that the Polish authorities will swiftly and fully implement the judgement in question as required under EU law. As regards the situation on the ground, I would limit myself to summarising what I set out in my intervention in this Parliament to ensure two weeks ago.

SOUNDBITE (English), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, So far, the Polish authorities have taken no steps to address the service concerns in relation to the independence of the National Council for the Judiciary. As regards the Supreme Court, they are serious doubts where a number of is justice appointed in 2018 and 2019, including its first president, comply with the requirements of independence stemming from Article 19 of the Treaty on European Union.

SOUNDBITE (English), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, Finally, as regards the Constitutional Tribunal, serious concerns persist as the Polish authorities have not taken any action to address the concerns of the Commission. And in February, the Commission decided to refer Poland to the Court of Justice for violations of EU law by the Council and Tribunal and its true rulings issued in 2021.

SOUNDBITE (English), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, That challenge, among others, the primacy of EU law. Of course, we will continue to follow the different procedures, we will continue to use all the different tools at our disposal to be sure that it will be possible to restore a real independence of the judiciary in Poland and to protect democracy.

SOUNDBITE (English), Didier REYNDERS, European Commissioner for Justice, Like we have started to organise the procedure about the new law and organising the State committee. So, and thank you for this debate and looking forward to your intervention. But first of all, I want to thank you for your attention. Thank you.