A few days ago, the Sejm supported the law on the Supreme Court. The government argues that these provisions will allow to unblock funds from KPO. — If the legislative process is completed within half a month, a month and a half, then we submit an application to the European Commission. The payment of funds is, I think, a perspective somewhere in May or June – spokesman of the government, Piotr Müller, said about the money from KPO.
It doesn’t have to be that simple. It’s time for the Senate to move, and there, as “Rzeczpospolita” found out, the chairman of the Senate Legislative Committee, Senator Krzysztof Kwiatkowski asked the Venice Commission for an opinion on the draft amendment to the law on the Supreme Court.
– The meeting of the Legislative Committee must be held before the scheduled date of the plenary meeting on the amendment to the Act on the Supreme Court, i.e. before January 31. So the time is relatively short and I hope that the Venice Commission will have time to present it Kwiatkowski says.
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“Rzeczpospolita” notes that if the opinion of the Venice Commission is negative, it may result in the rejection of the project in its entirety. Under the influence of this important institution, opposition deputies could change their minds in the Sejm, and this includes thanks to them, the regulations are further processed.
A negative opinion of the Venice Commission could also be important for the European Commission, which still does not determine the availability of EU funds for Poland.
— The European Commission will assess whether the recent changes in the Polish judiciary may lead to the disbursement of funds from the Reconstruction Fund only when the new law is implemented – said the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen a few days ago.
— We will continue to follow the next steps of the ongoing legislative process closely, and then we will analyze the law finally adopted. We are in contact with the Polish authorities to ensure that Polish legislation is fully in line with the commitments made under the framework KPO on the independence of the judiciary. It will be important that the adopted final law raises the standards of judicial protection and judicial independence, European Commission spokesman Christian Wigand stressed on Friday.