State of the European Union speech: dangers from Central Europe
The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, in Strasbourg on September 14th.
AFP - JULIEN WARNAND
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
This Wednesday, September 14, the President of the European Commission delivers, as has been the annual practice since 2010, the “State of the Union Address”.
Review of the past year and challenges to come are still on the menu.
Ursula von der Leyen is eagerly awaited on the EU's response to Poland, which in fact threatens the very foundations of the EU.
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Digital, recovery, geopolitics, Covid and climate change are the ingredients planned for this Wednesday.
But despite the importance that these subjects have for the EU, they could be eclipsed by the last chapter “European way of life and European democracy”.
The fear comes from central Europe, and more particularly from Poland.
The latter is again talking about it with the ban on access imposed on the media along the border with Belarus.
But this attack on press freedom is only one of the many points of contention with the European Commission.
Because the Polish government is attacking press freedom, but this is only the latest breach of the rule of law.
Among the other files on the fire are in particular the famous zones without LGBT ideology, and especially the disciplinary chamber for judges.
How does the Commission intend to use cross-compliance?
The Commission has been clashing for years with Hungary and Poland on respect for the rule of law and European values.
But Ursula von der Leyen must "
whistle the end of recess
", some believe.
Because the Polish position now threatens the very foundations of the EU, with the challenge of the primacy of European law by the Constitutional Court.
We are also awaiting a new decision on September 22, and we hear here that we must quickly close the door in which Poland has set foot, before it becomes contagious.
A direct reference to Michel Barnier's proposals to overcome European immigration rules.
The Commission has already asked the Court of Justice of the EU for financial sanctions, but it is expected at the turn to see how it intends to use the so-called conditionality tool, the one which allows to suspend the payment of funds from the European Union in the event of breach of the rule of law.
► To read again: For Ursula von der Leyen, the Hungarian law on homosexuality is "a shame"
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Ursula von der Leyen
European Union
Poland
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