EU official says Poland must do more over rule of law concerns: report

Timmermans recently visited Warsaw to hold talks with top officials on disputed legal changes carried out by Poland’s conservative government.

The European Commission, the executive arm of the 28-nation European Union, in December took the unprecedented step of triggering Article 7 of the EU Treaty against Poland, stepping up pressure on Warsaw over controversial changes to the country’s justice system.

The head of the Polish Prime Minister’s Office, Michał Dworczyk, said earlier this month that initial signals from Brussels had indicated recent Polish proposed adjustments to judicial reforms had been “positively assessed by politicians and officials in the European Union.”

In an effort to accommodate some of the EU executive’s recommendations over changes to the court system in Poland, the ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party recently came forward with a series of legislative initiatives to modify disputed laws regulating the work of the country's common court system and the Supreme Court.

But the PAP news agency reported that Timmermans on Tuesday told ministers from EU countries meeting in Luxembourg that the moves by Poland did not resolve problems pointed to by the European Commission and that he wanted to make a final assessment in May.

(pk/gs)

Source: PAP