Reliable friends or cunning back-stabbers? EU fines against Poland’s ‘rule of law’ dispute surpass €160m. * The question: Will Poland defy Brussels to defend the primacy of the nation state or will it ‘amend’ this national legislation to meet the demands of Brussels? Poland should not expect the new Czech government to have its back either. What a trap. President Duda, especially of late (multiple vetoes under EU/US pressure), has been disappointing, and continues to try to appease Brussels…but this strategy is futile and never works. https://www.axios.com/2022/03/25/bidens-unlikely-embrace-of-poland – The EU Commission says fines imposed on Poland for its refusal to scrap a controversial disciplinary mechanism for judges had crossed €160 million, and would be cut from the EU budget allocation for Poland. The EU Commission said Tuesday that the first tranche of EU funds totalling €69 million has already been deducted and a further €42 million would be cut by mid-May. ** How dandy; one has to love that EU solidarity. Hungary – which in 2015 virtually stood alone against mass migration – knows better than to try to play that game. – Yet, Poland’s President Andrzej Duda has now proposed a law to scrap the Supreme Court chamber in the hope of drawing a line under the dispute. Good luck with that. However, first the changes will have to be approved by Polish lawmakers. Even if this happens (we do not believe PiS lawmakers will back down from EU threats), the EU will unlikely accept Poland’s reforms, as so-called ‘legal observers’ have already queried whether it is merely a rebranding exercise. EU justice commissioner Didier Reynders: “The fact that there seems to be a momentum towards reforming the disciplinary regime for judges in Poland is a positive step. Yet, what will eventually matter is the extent to which the legislation … will address the requirements set out by the Court of Justice.” Translation: don’t expect Brussels to be impressed. *** Hopefully, PM Morawiecki realizes the games being played here…and who Poland’s true friends are (they are in Hungary, which also believes in sovereignty), as opposed to those pretenders (such as the new pro-EU government in Prague) trying to use this occasion to turn the V4 into a passive group of EU bootlickers, dependent on Brussels for all of its needs. One cannot give an inch to the EU. Now it will rely on the regime of Qatar? https://uk.news.yahoo.com/eu-fines-against-polands-rule-064442229.html
Reliable friends or cunning back-stabbers? EU fines against Poland’s ‘rule of law’ dispute surpass €160m.
