The European Union will mount another challenge to a Polish law as the bloc continues to joust with Warsaw over its approach to the judiciary.
(Bloomberg) — The European Union will mount another challenge to a Polish law as the bloc continues to joust with Warsaw over its approach to the judiciary.
The EU’s executive arm will open infringement proceedings against Poland to block a law that allows its ruling party to probe opposition leader Donald Tusk ahead of elections later this year, Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis told reporters on Wednesday.Â
The law would create a special committee to probe alleged Russian meddling in Poland, with unprecedented powers that could also possibly prevent officials from pursuing public office. On Friday, Polish President Andrzej Duda sought to defuse the controversy over the law by proposing measures that would soften parts of it.
The latest action comes after Poland lost the final round of a separate legal battle with Brussels when the bloc’s top court ruled that Poland’s controversial regime to discipline national judges violated EU law. That fight had resulted in record daily EU fines of €1 million ($1.1 million).
Read more: Poland Loses EU Top Court Fight Over Curbs on Judges
Poland has so far failed to pay any part of its bill, which currently stands at €556.5 million. That’s led the European Commission to withhold €360 million from EU funds earmarked for the nation, for the period between November 2021 and October 2022.Â
The fines stopped accruing after the ruling, but top court said Warsaw is still obligated to pay the existing penalties.
Poland’s opposition, led by Tusk, held the biggest anti-government rally since the fall of communism in 1989, with an estimated half a million people gathering in Warsaw on Sunday.
Read more: Hundreds of Thousands March for Polish Opposition Ahead of Vote
–With assistance from Katharina Rosskopf.
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