MEPs back move to trigger Article 7 against Poland

Of the 617 MEPs who voted, 422 backed the resolution while 147 opposed it and 48 abstained.

At the end of last year, the European Commission took the unprecedented step of triggering Article 7 of the EU Treaty against Poland, stepping up pressure on Warsaw over contested changes to the judicial system by the country’s ruling conservatives.

The decision by the commission means that the EU’s executive wants the bloc’s member states to declare that the rule of law in Poland is under threat.

The move could pave the way for sanctions being imposed on Poland, for example suspending its voting rights in the European Union. But penalties on Warsaw would have to be backed unanimously by EU member states, while Hungary has said it would not support sanctions.

Poland is to present its response to the European Commission’s concerns by the end of March.

The vote by MEPs on the resolution followed a debate in the European Parliament on Wednesday.

Poland's governing Law and Justice party has argued that sweeping changes are needed to reform what they claim is an inefficient and sometimes corrupt judicial system tainted by the communist past.

(pk)

Source: PAP