Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will later this week call on the European Commission to take measures against Poland. He wants the European Union not to yet approve Poland's €36 billion coronavirus recovery plan. This also means that the European recovery subsidies should not be paid out yet.
The nationalist conservative PiS government of Poland has been at odds with the EU for some time over reforms that—according to Brussels—undermine democracy and the rule of law. EU countries were shocked when recently the Polish Constitutional Tribunal ruled that Polish law sometimes outweighs European law.
Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki personally appeared before the European Parliament to debate this. The European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, said that they are ‘investigating’ which measures can be taken against Poland. But she also said that these measures would not be implemented immediately. Many Members of the European Parliament were extremely dissatisfied with this.
Both EU Commissioners and EU politicians feel that Poland’s dispute that some European rules have precedence over Polish rules is unprecedented. If they were to accept this, the European Union could further unravel. The vast majority of the European Parliament shares this view. Comparisons have even been made with the British, whose anti-EU stance eventually led to their country leaving the EU.
Prime Minister Morawiecki defied this criticism and addressed the parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday morning. In an open letter to his fellow government leaders on Monday, he fired a warning shot. Not he, but his opponents are putting the future of the EU at risk, he stated.
The European Parliament will vote on Thursday on a resolution calling on the Commission and EU countries to take far-reaching steps as long as the Polish government refuses to comply with the rulings of the European Court of Justice.
For example, the European Parliament calls to not approve the recovery fund for Poland, to halt EU funds, and to proceed with the Article 7 procedure, which can strip the Polish government of voting rights. A majority of the European Parliament is likely to support the resolution.