The Court of Justice of the European Union rejected Ryszard Czarnecki's complaint against the decision to dismiss him as one of the deputy presidents of the European Parliament - the CJEU informed on Monday.
The case reaches as far back as February 2018 when Law and Justice's (PiS) MEP Ryszard Czarnecki was removed from European Parliament's deputy vice chair position by a vast majority of votes. Czarnecki sparked outrage after comparing fellow Polish MEP Róża Thun (Civic Platform) to a so-called Szmalcownik. The term was used to describe Nazi collaborators in occupied Poland during the Second World War. 447 MEPs were in favour of his dismissal and 196 were against.
Czarnecki argued that the regulations were misinterpreted to his disadvantage. He protested against not including the abstention votes in the calculation of the majority necessary to dismiss him.
The said votes were included in the quorum but not in the 2/3 needed to remove a vice chairman from his post. Had the votes been included, the PiS politician would have survived the vote.
In April 2018, Czernecki filed a complaint against the decision. He demanded the decision to be suspended until the EU court's final decision, but the CJEU rejected his claim.
Czarnecki claimed in his complaint that his right to defense and to being heard was violated, but the court dismissed his argumentation. The case was closed not by a ruling but with a resolution, as the arguments used in the complaint were deemed as legally baseless.
As the CJEU press office informed Polish Press Agency, the decision in this case was delivered to the parties involved. They may appeal against it, however, only when it comes to legal assessment and not the factual arrangements. In March 2018, Czarnecki was replaced as deputy head of the EP by other PiS MEP, Zdzisław Krasnodębski.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: tvn24