EU gives Poland until Aug 16 to comply with EU court ruling or face fines

Record ID: 1627634

  • Title: EU gives Poland until Aug 16 to comply with EU court ruling or face fines
  • Date: 20th July 2021
  • Summary: BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (FILE - APRIL 1, 2021) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT BUILDING BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (FILE - MAY 2020) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 3rd August 2021 16:28
  • Keywords: European Commission European Union Hungary Poland justice law rule of law
  • Location: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM / WARSAW, POLAND / BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
  • City: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM / WARSAW, POLAND / BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: European Union,Europe,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA006EMNBOLJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The European Commission on Tuesday (July 20) gave Poland until August 16 to comply with a ruling by the top EU court last week, ignored by Warsaw, that Poland's system for disciplining judges broke EU law and should be suspended.
    If Poland does not comply, the commission would ask the EU court to impose financial sanctions on Warsaw, commission Vice President Vera Jourova told a news conference.
    The Commission also listed serious concerns about the rule of law in Poland and Hungary in a report on Tuesday that could help decide whether they receive billions of euros in EU funds to help recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
    The commission said Poland and Hungary were undermining media pluralism and court independence. They are the only two countries in the 27-member bloc under formal EU investigation for jeopardising the rule of law.
    The EU executive has already delayed its approval on 7.2 billion euros for Hungary in an attempt to win rule of law concessions from Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government and has not yet given the go-ahead for 23 billion euros in grants and 34 billion in cheap loans for Poland.
    Jourova said the European Union and its member states were not immune from attempts to challenge "the very foundations of democratic countries" and said more needed to be done to uphold the rule of law.
    Jourova also commented on EU nations reporting an increase in threats and violence against journalists, especially women.
    "The tragic murder of Dutch journalist Peter de Vries is the latest of the series of worrying attacks on European journalists in recent years." she added.
    (Production: Emilie Delwarde, Lewis Macdonald)
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