EU threatens Poland with sanctions over court reforms

PanARMENIAN.Net - The European Union on Wednesday, July 19 warned Poland's right-wing government to put on hold controversial reforms to the country's courts or risk unprecedented sanctions, AFP reveals.

In a worsening 18-month standoff between Warsaw and Brussels, the European Commission said Poland's draft reforms could have a "very significant negative impact on the independence" of the courts.

"We are very close to triggering article seven," Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans told a press conference in Brussels, following a high-level meeting on the issue.

If article seven of the EU treaty is activated -- and the matter could be discussed as early as next week -- Poland could see its voting rights suspended in the council of ministers, the EU's highest decision-making body.

But it was not immediately clear whether the commission could muster the support required from the other 27 member countries, particularly from Poland's ally Hungary.

Timmermans said the stakes were high as "these laws considerably increase the systemic threats to the rule of law in Poland."

If enacted, he warned, they would put the "judiciary under the full political control of the government" and make "the judges serve at the pleasure of the political leaders."

Officials from the commission, the EU's executive arm, said no action can be taken as long as the draft laws have not been adopted.