Until recently, it seemed that not too many in the EU were particularly interested in what was happening in Poland. At the same time, Poland's strong man Jarosław Kaczyński worked cheerfully with his party PiS (»Law and Justice«) to dismantle the cornerstones of a democratic constitutional state: in 2015 he brought the Polish constitutional court under his control, then he placed the body that appoints judges control of parliament. Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro also serves as attorney general. Finally, the government installed a disciplinary chamber that can punish stubborn judges with penalties up to and including a professional ban. There is no longer a clear separation of powers between the legislature and the judiciary.
Now the EU is threatening the recently newly created rule of law mechanism, the loss of Polish voting rights and the reduction of European corona aid - and Kaczyński seems to give in.
For real?
more on the subject
New media law: Is Poland still a democracy? By Jan Puhl
Controversial disciplinary body: Poland partially gives way to dispute over judicial reform
The rule of law at risk: »Punished Kaczyński« A guest contribution by Gerald Knaus
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There are also voices in the PiS party who urge that this disciplinary commission really be abolished. Will they do it? I don't think so, ”says Jan Puhl, Eastern Europe expert in SPIEGEL's foreign affairs department. “I believe that Kaczyński will not give up his central project of judicial reform, of extending his power to the judicial apparatus. So I think what he's doing is tactical at best. "
For the EU, Poland can thus not only become a decisive test of power in dealing with member states that, like Poland and Hungary, show autocratic tendencies. In this dispute, the construct of a European Union that not only wants to be a common economic area but is committed to shared democratic values may be at stake.
“In the case of Poland, it really is about everything. This crisis is significantly bigger than Brexit. It threatens Europe at its core, "says Maximilian Popp, deputy head of the SPIEGEL foreign affairs department. From his point of view, the EU Commission, as guardian of the treaties, is now asked: "If the EU Commission does not act against it with very harsh sanctions, then it is putting its own existence at risk."
How much Poles are Europeans, to what extent the German attitude towards their direct neighbors in the east must change and what will be important in the coming weeks, you will find out in this episode of "Eight Billion":