EU warns Poland to address "rule of law" within 1 month

The European Commission on Tuesday sent a recommendation to Poland requesting Warsaw to address problems arising from its judicial reform, which by the EU's account, undermines rule of law.

Poland is given one month to reply to the recommendation, which is the third of this kind, following two previous ones adopted on July 27 and Dec. 21 of 2016 respectively.

The recommendation covers four legislative acts recently adopted by the Polish parliament. Two of the acts were vetoed by Polish President Andrzej Duda earlier this week amid mounting domestic and external pressure.

"The fact that two of the four laws have been signed and that work will continue on the matters addressed in the other two, means that we must set out clearly our concerns in an additional rule of law recommendation today," Vice President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans said at a press conference.

"The new concerns raised by all four laws on the judiciary are included in our recommendation, allowing Polish authorities to take them into account in any future reforms of the judiciary to uphold the rule of law and to comply with EU law and with European standards on judicial independence," Timmermans added.

The Commission in the recommendation asked Warsaw not to take any measures to dismiss or force the retirement of Supreme Court judges, arguing that such measures "will seriously aggravate the systemic threat to the rule of law".

It warned that the EU is ready to invoke Article 7 of the EU Treaty if Polish government took such measures.

"The recommendation does not prevent Article 7 being activated directly, in case a sudden deterioration requires immediate and stronger action," Timmermans stressed.

Under Article 7 of the EU treaty, a sanction mechanism is to be triggered if a member state makes "a serious and persistent breach" of the rule of law. The member state concerned faces suspension of certain rights, including voting rights in the council of the EU.

Article 7, deemed as a "nuclear option", can be invoked once four fifths of EU member states agree. It has never been triggered before.

Timmermans also said the Commission will immediately send a letter of formal notice -- the first step of infringement procedure -- to Poland once it publishes the law on the ordinary courts organization, which will allow Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro to dismiss all common court presidents without specifying a reason.

However, "the Commission's hand is still extended to the Polish authorities in the hope of a constructive dialogue," Timmermans underlined.

The European Commission last week expressed "grave concern" for "the clear risks for the independence of the judiciary" in Poland, saying it would take legal action against Warsaw.

Duda on Monday and Tuesday, contrary to expectations, vetoed two controversial judicial bills passed recently by both houses of Polish parliament.

Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo criticized the president's move that "slowed down reform of the country's judicial system".