In the opinion of the European Commission, as a result of actions taken in the period from June 2022 to February 2024, the system of disciplinary measures against Polish judges was comprehensively reformed. The Commission recalled that the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court was liquidated and replaced by an independent and impartial court, established under the act adopted on June 9, 2022 (Act on the Chamber of Professional Responsibility).
In the opinion of Brussels officials, safeguards have been introduced so that judges are no longer exposed to the risk of disciplinary liability for the content of the judgments they issue or the application of EU law. This was achieved under the Act of June 2022 and the Regulation of the Minister of Justice of February 2024, which defined the framework for the appointment of ad hoc disciplinary prosecutors, which allows for the discontinuation of groundless disciplinary proceedings.
The EC also announced that all judges affected by the rulings of the Disciplinary Chamber had the right to have their case considered by the new Chamber of the Supreme Court within a clear time frame and on the terms set out in the Act of June 2022, and all judges who were unjustly suspended were reinstated. for positions.
Moreover – as the EU institution emphasized – the action plan presented by Poland includes “a clear confirmation of its commitment to respect the supremacy of EU law and the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU)”. This includes, among others: judgment of the CJEU of June 5, 2023, declaring certain provisions of Polish law regarding disciplinary offenses of judges contrary to EU law.
Last Friday, during her visit to Poland, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the release of money from the National Reconstruction Plan. Katarzyna Szymańska-Borginon, a journalist from RMF FM in Brussels, was the first to inform about it unofficially at the beginning of last week.
Positive assessment of the European Commission regarding the so-called The Action Plan restoring the rule of law in Poland opened access to approximately EUR 60 billion from the KPO and EUR 76 billion for Polish regions from the cohesion policy.
The first funds from the KPO will flow to Poland at the turn of March and April. This concerns the payment of EUR 6.3 billion from the application submitted by Prime Minister Donald Tusk on December 15. Today’s positive assessment by the European Commission of this application must still be approved by the Economic and Financial Committee, a body of the EU Council composed of representatives of EU countries, the European Commission, central banks and the European Central Bank. The committee has one month to do so. However, this decision will be a formality and it is possible that it will be possible to speed it up.
However, money from cohesion funds (from the EU budget for 2021-2027) will be able to flow to the account in Warsaw immediately. From today, the European Commission will refund money for invoices sent by Poland, e.g. for a given section of a road or hospital modernization. From October 2022, refunds for invoices were not possible because Poland did not meet the condition related to the Charter of Fundamental Rights regarding the independence of the judiciary (the EC only paid advances).
Today’s unlocking of EUR 137 billion was made possible thanks to the “Action Plan” prepared by the Minister of Justice, Adam Bodnar, on restoring the rule of law and constitutional order in Poland. It contains scheduled deadlines for the adoption of 9 judicial acts solving problems with the National Council of the Judiciary, the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Tribunal. Things accelerated when Minister Bodnar presented this plan to EU ministers for European affairs on February 20 to convince them to close the Art. 7 of the EU Treaty.
As the RMF FM journalist found out, Warsaw initially planned to present this plan only at the March meeting of EU ministers, but it was decided to speed it up so that it could also be the basis for unblocking the KPO and EU cohesion funds.
The action plan was very positively received by both the ministers of the EU Member States and the European Commission. It was such an extraordinary turn in relations between Warsaw and Brussels that the deputy head of the European Commission Vera Jourova, the Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium Hadja Lahbib competed for a place at the press conference with Minister Bodnar. Everyone wanted to be a part of this success.
We have been trying for six years to find a way to move forward with the Articles process. 7 and only today the Polish government presented for the first time a comprehensive plan on how to achieve this – said Jourova in a special statement for RMF FM.
In addition to the legislative action plan, Donald Tusk’s government also presented alternative solutions (in the event of a veto of judicial bills by President Andrzej Duda). These include, for example, decisions of the minister guaranteeing judges that they will not be held liable for conducting tests of judicial independence, asking questions for a preliminary ruling or applying EU law.
The decision to join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office also played an important role. The EC’s trust that Minister Bodnar would complete the announced actions was also of great importance. There was no such trust in the previous government.
The money from the KPO (EUR 1.5 billion) may be transferred, among others, to farmers. Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced this yesterday.
These funds will also be used to implement, for example, the “Clean Air” program related to subsidies for replacing old furnaces and insulation of houses, and the “Maluch” program, which supports the development of care institutions for children up to 3 years of age, i.e. nurseries, children’s clubs and day clubs. guardians.