EC's Timmermans 'ready to work with Polish gov't' amid rule-of-law row

Frans Timmermans met Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in Warsaw on Monday.

Morawiecki said he had given the European Commission deputy chief a “list of various changes that have taken place.”

“I am pleased that … we are trying to arrive at some agreement, at the same time bearing in mind the necessity for reform of the judiciary” in Poland, Morawiecki said.

Poland’s foreign minister previously said there was “little room for compromise” after some “concessions” were made.

Poland amended some of its new laws after sweeping changes to the judiciary saw Brussels declare that there was a threat to the rule of law in Poland.

The European Commission, the executive arm of the 28-nation European Union, in December took the unprecedented step of triggering Article 7 of the EU Treaty against Poland, stepping up pressure on Warsaw over controversial changes to the judicial system by the country’s ruling conservatives.

The move meant that the EU’s executive wanted the bloc’s member states to declare that the rule of law in Poland was under threat. That could potentially pave the way for sanctions being imposed on Poland.

According to a Polish MEP, top EU officials in Brussels are in a disagreement over the Article 7 procedure against Warsaw. (vb)

Source: PAP