The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen , has ruled out for the second time this week the payment of billions of euros in coronavirus aid to Poland as long as the Warsaw government does not withdraw its controversial judicial reform.
In an interview published this Saturday by the newspaper ‘Augsburger Allgemeine’, Von der Leyen has insisted that Poland must restore the independence of the judiciary required by the Court of Justice of the European Union (TEU) to receive payments from the European Fund for Reconstruction.
“Clear rules have been established for payments from the reconstruction fund for all member states,” declared the president of the commission, before stating that “these investments are only available with reforms and are established in the specific recommendations of each country. ».
“For Poland, the demand for reform to restore the independence of the judiciary has been valid for years, and the EU member states have agreed to link these commitments to the corresponding payments,” he settled.
So far, Brussels has issued 22 positive opinions on national plans to allow access to community funds and has four on the table pending a verdict, including those from Poland and Hungary, frozen due to a lack of understanding with their governments. Regarding the guarantees regarding the rule of law that it demands from them.
The vice-president of the Community Executive responsible for economic affairs, Valdis Dombrovskis, said this Thursday that he hopes that the examination of the programs presented by Warsaw and Budapest can be concluded “as soon as possible”, but has avoided any reference to a specific deadline .
