The matter of a “disagreement” between Warsaw and the European Commission on judicial reforms in Poland was only a minor topic during Wednesday consultations of Polish and Hungarian prime ministers – Poland’s deputy Foreign Minister Konrad Szymański said on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki pays a one-day visit to Hungary, where he met with the Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban. In the afternoon, a plenary session of the Polish and Hungarian delegations was held. Additionally, the head of the Polish government will meet with the Hungarian President Janos Ader.
When asked by journalists about the European Commission’s decision to trigger Article 7(1) of the Treaty on European Union against Poland in the context of Morawiecki’s visit to Hungary, Szymański commented that it was not an important item on the agenda of the Polish-Hungarian consultations.
“These mainly concentrated on the issue of coordination of EU level initiatives in the areas of economy, single market, long-term financial frameworks and security policy,” the deputy Foreign Minister told reporters after the Morawiecki – Orban meeting.
“In fact, this unfortunate matter of a certain disagreement between Warsaw and the EC (…) was only briefly mentioned during the consultations,” he added.
“Budapest is convinced that this case should not be continued”
When asked about the Hungarian government’s declaration concerning Article 7(1), Szymański replied that this question should be addressed to a representative of the Hungarian government.
“On numerous occasions both me and you have heard declarations that leave no doubts as to Budapest’s position on the dispute that had unfortunately arisen between Warsaw and Brussels on the matter of judicial reforms in Poland,” the deputy Foreign Minister told reporters.
“Budapest is convinced – I presume – that this case should not be continued and should be settled in a definitely less confrontational manner than an attempt at introducing it to the General Affairs Council, and we share this view,” added Szymański.
When asked whether Poland is going to discuss Article 7(1) with other states, the deputy Foreign Minister replied that Poland would have no other choice. “Although we think that there are more important issues on the UE agenda than Polish judicial reforms,” Szymański remarked.
“If there is a wish on the part of the European Commission for this matter to be discussed at the General Affairs Council level, we are willing to talk to each individual Member State, because each of them should form a detailed, fact-based opinion on judicial reforms in Poland,” he said.
He stated that the Polish government would prefer to focus on matters “of much more importance” to the future of the EU, but assured that, if the EC so wished, the government was ready to present its opinion on the matter of the judicial reform.
However, Szymański did not indicate which EU leaders Prime Minister Morawiecki would potentially meet with.
“Poland is the flagship of Central Europe”
At the end of December last year, the EC adopted a decision to trigger against Poland the procedure foreseen under Article 7(1) of the Treaty on European Union, which states that on a reasoned proposal by one third of the Member States, by the European Parliament or by the European Commission, the Council (made up of representatives of all the Member States), acting by a majority of four fifths of its members after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament, may determine that there is a clear risk of a serious breach by a Member State of the EU values. Before making such a determination, the Council shall hear the Member State in question and may address recommendations to it, acting in accordance with the same procedure. Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans, who informed of the decision, stressed that the EC was giving Poland three months to implement actions set out in the Rule of Law Recommendation.
Referring to the EC decision, the Hungarian Prime Minister said at the end of December that “it must be made clear to the Union that it is not even worth initiating the procedure against Poland, as there is no chance of it being carried out with Hungary standing in the way, which is an obstacle that could not be avoided”.
Orban also said at that time that “Poland is the flagship of Central Europe” and “without a strong Poland there is no strong Central Europe”. “So if someone attacks Poland, as is now happening in Brussels, they attack all of Central Europe,” added the head of the Hungarian government.
Źródło: tvn24.pl