Parliament must use all tools at its disposal to hold Commission to account over rule of law
Poland RRP
Today, Members of the European Parliament voted on a resolution on the Commission’s decision to push ahead with the Polish Recovery Plan. The Polish government has yet to meet any of the criteria set out by President von der Leyen in October last year, nor has it implemented any of the rulings of the European Court of Justice or of the European Court of Human Rights with regard to its judicial system. The Greens/EFA Group are calling on the Council to block the adoption of the Polish government’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) until the relevant judgements are implemented.
Terry Reintke MEP, Greens/EFA Vice President and spokesperson on the rule of law in Poland, comments:
“What the Commission did was a mistake. Now it’s up to the Council to show some spine and stand up for the rule of law until the conditions are met. The rule of law should not not need to be a series of conditions at all; it should be self-evident for every Member State to abide by the rulings of the ECJ.
“If the Commission isn’t willing to stand up to these values as guardians of the treaties then we will do everything in our power to hold them to account. The rule of law is not a bargaining chip and it is not negotiable.”
Damian Boeselager, Volt MEP and Greens/EFA Member who negotiated the RRF, comments:
“The Commission President’s decision to recommend the Polish plan for approval was a grave error. Our Union is built on the Treaties. If they and the resulting EU law are not guaranteed to be enforced in a Member State, the Union will ultimately crumble. President von der Leyen has proven that the Rule of Law is not the Commission’s priority.
“These milestones will not prevent the Polish government from sanctioning and dismissing judges or packingthe Polish courts with political appointees. It is now crucial that national governments do not approve the Polish recovery plan until all the judgments of the ECJ and the European Court of Human rights are implemented."
