Rule of law in Poland

16/1/2018


　
To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the status of recent EU efforts to address issues in relation to the rule of law in Poland; and if he will make a statement on the matter.　
- Darragh O'Brien.　
* For WRITTEN answer on Tuesday, 16th January, 2018.　
Ref No: 1504/18　

REPLY　



Dialogue has been ongoing between the European Commission and Poland regarding the Rule of Law since January 2016. 　
The Commission on 20 December 2017 adopted three complementary measures (i) a proposal to the Council under Art. 7(1) TEU on the risk of a serious breach by a Member State of EU values (ii) a 4th rule of law recommendation identifying concrete actions Poland should take including two new measures relating to recently adopted laws, (iii) referral to the Court of Justice of the EU the law on the ordinary courts which introduced different retirement ages for male and female judges and gives the Minister of Justice discretionary power to extend their retirement ages. The Commission has invited the Polish authorities to address the issues within three months. The Commission has also said that it is ready to pursue a constructive dialogue with the Polish Government to this end. 　
Commission President Juncker and Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki met in Brussels on 9 January last where they addressed a broad range of issues of common interest, including the Rule of Law. They agreed that they will meet again to pursue the discussion with a view to making progress by the end of February.　
I hope that a solution can be reached through this further dialogue.