EU Council approves Poland's National Recovery Plan

"The Council of the European Union has approved Poland's National Recovery Plan, in line with EU Commission's recommendation issued earlier in June," TVN24 correspondent Maciej Sokołowski informed on Friday (June 17).

"All member states were in favour of backing of the plan, except for the Netherlands which decided to abstain," Sokołowski added.

"The Council of the EU's approval ends the procedure on the EU institutions' part, but that does not mean Poland will receive the money, as that will depend on the country's compliance with the milestones agreed as part of the plan," TVN24 correspondent said.

The European Commission approved billions of euros in COVID-19 economic recovery funds for Poland on June 1, but the money will not flow until Warsaw makes reforms to the judiciary, the EU executive arm said.

Under the deal, Poland is to get 23.9 billion euros in grants and 11.5 billion euros in cheap loans over several years.

But the Commission said the plan included milestones related to important aspects of the independence of the judiciary and which had to be put in place for the recovery plan to be effective.

EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who depends on the EU parliament's support to pass policies, said earlier in June that Poland must dismantle the Disciplinary Chamber and replace it with a "substantially different" one.

The second condition for payments she set out was Warsaw changing its disciplinary regime in general, including to ensure it does not punish judges seeking clarifications from the ECJ.

Thirdly, judges already sanctioned by the standing disciplinary chamber must be able to have their cases reviewed.

"Poland needs to demonstrate that these milestones are fulfilled before any disbursement can be made," the Commission statement said.

The following week, she also told a session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg: "No money will be disbursed, until these reforms are undertaken." She was referring to Brussels' demand that Poland dismantle a contentious disciplinary regime for judges.