EU acts against Poland as judicial reform threat continues

The European Commission is to take legal action against Poland, as the country's Government refused to back down over its controversial plans to increase political power over the judiciary.

On Monday this week, Poland's President Andrzej Duda announced that he was vetoing two of three bills, requiring reselection of the Supreme Court bench and controlling membership of the judicial appointments body, while agreeing to a third measure giving the Justice Minister the right to select and dismiss judges in the lower courts.

In response, Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said the Government would press ahead with the reforms, and would not "yield to pressure from the street and from abroad".

The proposals have sparked widespread demonstrations across the country as well as international condemnation from legal and judicial bodies.

The President's veto could be overridden with a sufficient parliamentary majority, but the Government is thought more likely to bring forward amended legislation.

Yesterday the EU Commission's Vice President Frans Timmermans said the Commission would launch immediate action to strip Poland of its EU voting rights if the Government went ahead with its Supreme Court proposals. The action would be based on gender discrimination, in that earlier retirement ages would be set for female judges, as well as loss of judicial independence.

However such a move would require the agreement of all EU member states, and Hungary has said it will back Poland. An alternative outcome would be the imposition of substantial fines by the EU Court of Justice.

A Polish Government spokesperson responded: "We will not tolerate any blackmail from EU officials, especially blackmails that are not based on facts."