The European Commission has deducted another tranche of penalty cash from funds earmarked for Poland, TVN24 Brussels correspondent Maciej Sokołowski learned on Thursday (December 8). The Court of Justice of the European Union has imposed the penalties on Poland for not complying with the ruling of said court ordering the country to dismantle the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court. So far, Poland has already lost 300 million euro, which is 1.4 billion zlotys.
Maciej Sokołowski reported on Thursday that the EU Commission deducted another 33 million euro in penalties for the period between July 28 and August 29 (33 days = 33 million euro). This is the eight time the EU executive has deducted cash earmarked for Poland.
The total sum of funds deducted so far is 300 million euro. This includes:
1) 69 million euro for the period between November 3 and January 10; 2) 42 million euro for the period between January 11 and February 21; 3) 30 million euro for the period between February 22 and March 23; 4) 33 million euro for the period between March 24 and April 25; 5) 30 million euro for the period between April 26 and May 25; 6) 33 million euro for the period between May 26 and June 27; 7) 30 million euro for the period between June 28 and July 27; 8) 33 million euro for the period between July 28 and August 29.
TVN24 Brussels correspondent also reminded that "the EU Commission still hasn't responded to Poland's request to suspend the penalties as the law on the Disciplinary Chamber has been amended".
The amended law on the Supreme Court has become effective in mid-July. Among other changes, the new legislation replaced the contested Disciplinary Chamber with the Professional Liabily Chamber.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told "Dziennik Gazeta Prawna" in late-July that the new Polish law did not failed to guarantee that judges would not be disciplined for questioning statuses of other judges.
Penalties for Poland
In the summer of 2021, the Court of Justice of the European Union issued a ruling ordering Poland to immediately suspend applying all regulations organising the work of the contested Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court, including those allowing for stripping judges of their immunity.
For not complying with said ruling, the CJEU has imposed a fine on Poland of 1 million euro per day. The penalty of 1 million euro a day has been charged since November 3, 2021. It is being deducted by the European Commission from EU funds earmarked for Poland.
Last year, the Court of Justice of the European Union imposed daily fines on Poland in relation to two cases: the functioning of Turów coal mine and of the contested Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court. The fines for Turów were being deducted from September 20, 2021 until February 3, 2022, and amounted to a total of 68.5 million euro.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, TVN24
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