Schinas: EU approach to Poland eyes results, ‘nuclear option’ not on the table

The EU stance toward Poland over the rule of law row aims to bring tangible results as the “nuclear option” in the past did not work, EU Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas said at the annual event of EURACTIV’s Network. 

“What we’re doing now is something that is to conduce results, rather than giving the impression of a broader spat,” he said.

“We will not pursue the nuclear option of Article 7, which has its limits – the nuclear option in the past did not produce any meaningful improvements and I don’t think that it will do now,” Schinas said.

Previously on Tuesday (7 December), European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said the EU was unlikely to approve Poland’s billions in loans and grants from the recovery fund before the end of the year, in a sign of the gulf that remains between the two sides over judicial independence. 

Both Poland and Hungary submitted their recovery plans in May, but approval is being withheld as Brussels wants firm commitments to guarantee rule of law and independence of the judiciary in Poland and resolution of public procurement and conflict of interest issues for Budapest.

Asked whether this would be a message from the EU’s executive it would get tougher on democratic backsliding in the EU, Schinas said “the approach of the Von der Leyen Commission has been clear”.

Earlier in October, the European Commission has partly backed off on its demands and may concentrate on just one – abolishing the Disciplinary Chamber.

In the meantime, the EU’s highest court has imposed a €1 million daily fine on Warsaw for not implementing its summer orders.

“The question of the recovery fund is of course linked to the rule of law, because this massive spending would also have to have guarantees of independent judiciary and checks and balances,” Schinas said.

Schinas, however, rejected the notion this would constitute a punishment against Warsaw, saying that “under no circumstances this condition is doctrinally or fundamentalist – it cannot be”.

“The proof of that is that when Poland was under hybrid attack from the Belarus regime, they got ample, immediate, generous, tangible, solid, political, financial and strategic support from the EU side,” Schinas said.

Asked whether he thinks Warsaw has got the message, Schinas said this would be a “process”.

(Alexandra Brzozowski | EURACTIV.com)