Corona virus: EU Commission approves plan for disbursement of aid to Poland

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EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stands next to Council President Charles Michel at a press conference

Photo: IMAGO/Nicolas Economou / IMAGO/NurPhoto

Poland has come a step closer to paying out the EU's Corona billions.

The EU Commission decided on Wednesday to approve Poland's reconstruction plan.

Poland has thus come one step closer to disbursing a total of EUR 23.9 billion in non-repayable grants and another EUR 11.5 billion in loans.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is scheduled to present details of the agreement in Warsaw on Thursday.

However, no money will flow for the time being, as the Commission emphasized in a statement distributed on Wednesday.

The Polish government must first achieve the milestones agreed with the Commission.

The main issue here is correcting the controversial judicial reform, which the Commission believes curtails the independence of the Polish judiciary.

Without independent judges, according to the argument of the Brussels authorities, there is no guarantee that the billions from the Corona pot will be used lawfully.

The dispute meant that Poland - unlike most other EU countries - did not receive a first tranche of its reconstruction funds last year, although Warsaw had already submitted its reconstruction plan in May 2021.

The advance payment is no longer necessary;

Warsaw now has to meet the milestones before the first transfer is made – and the Commission alone decides when that is done.

Poland must therefore:

• Abolish the controversial Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court, which continues to exist despite a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), and replace it with a court that complies with the requirements of the European Court of Justice,

• enable all judges who have been affected by judgments of the Disciplinary Chamber to have them reviewed by a legitimate court,

• reform the disciplinary system for judges.

Controversy among EU commissioners

According to SPIEGEL information, there was a controversial debate among the EU commissioners.

Commission deputies Frans Timmermans and Margrethe Vestager are said to have opposed the approval of Poland's recovery plan, partly because they wanted the illegally dismissed judges to be reinstated immediately.

The decision has also been criticized from outside – mainly because it was made before Poland had met all of the commission's conditions.

"There are no real concessions from Poland, and the judges who were illegally dismissed have not yet been reinstated," says Green MEP Daniel Freund.

"The Commission gave up its greatest leverage without Poland really moving." The approval of Poland's recovery plan was based "on promises made by Poland that can only be disappointed."

Katarina Barley, Vice-President of the European Parliament, made a similar statement.

"The EU Commission can be fobbed off with a Polish judicial reform," says the SPD politician.

The "profound problems" in the Polish judicial system remained.

»There will still be no control of the government by an independent judiciary in Poland, and the judgments of the European Court of Justice will continue to be disregarded.«

The FDP MEP Moritz Körner described the milestones for Poland as "too vague".

"Von der Leyen's carrot-and-stick strategy towards Poland is playing with fire," said Körner.

EU Commission sees Poland's credible plan

The Commission, on the other hand, says that unlike in the past, Poland has presented a credible plan to meet the rule of law conditions.

Now the government in Warsaw must be given the chance to prove that it is serious.

Since she will not receive any money beforehand, the procedure is without risk for the EU.

One no longer has to deal with the details of the relevant Polish legislative projects, but can decide whether Poland fulfills the conditions solely on the basis of their effect.

In addition, Commission insiders point out that there is a clause in the regulation on the recovery fund that allows money already paid out to be withdrawn if Poland reverses its reforms.

If the government in Warsaw refuses to pay back the money, the money could be withdrawn from Poland's extensive subsidies - just as was done recently with fines imposed by the ECJ, which Warsaw refused to pay.

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