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Poland's Supreme Court in Warsaw (in 2018, with a protest banner)
Photo: Natalie Skrzypczak/ DPA
Poland's government hopes that a new law on the controversial judicial reforms will allow the EU to release billions in corona financial aid.
The Sejm, the first chamber of the Polish parliament, approved a draft law drafted by the ruling PiS party to amend the reforms on Friday.
After being passed by the Sejm, the bill now has to pass the Senate, the second chamber.
The PiS, which has been in power since 2015, had redesigned the country's judiciary.
The EU Commission took particular offense at the 2018 introduced disciplinary chamber at the Supreme Court, which could dismiss any judge or prosecutor.
In July 2021, the European Court of Justice ruled that Poland was violating European law.
The Disciplinary Chamber was finally dissolved in July 2022.
Instead, a "Chamber of Professional Responsibility" was set up at the Supreme Court.
However, this change did not meet all the conditions of the EU Commission.
The draft law now passed by Parliament in Warsaw provides, among other things, that the Supreme Administrative Court should be responsible for disciplinary matters in future instead of the Supreme Court.
Reaction of the EU to recent changes still uncertain
The EU Commission has not yet made a clear statement on whether the new draft law meets its criteria for releasing the Corona aid funds.
In a first statement on Friday, she spoke of an "important step".
The next steps will be followed closely and the law will be analyzed in its final form, according to Brussels.
The PiS government led by Mateusz Morawiecki is very keen to receive the first tranche of the EU's corona aid fund as soon as possible.
The next parliamentary elections are due in Poland in the fall.
And the government in Warsaw needs the EU billions so that the positive effects of the aid money can already be felt by then.
fek/dpa/Reuters
