It's a recovery plan that goes wrong.

The four main European organizations of magistrates seized on Sunday the justice of the EU to cancel the green light of the Twenty-Seven to the Polish recovery plan, granted in June despite the alleged shortcomings in Warsaw in terms of judicial independence. .

The conditions set for Poland to release the payment of European funds "fall short of what is necessary to ensure effective protection of the independence of judges and of the judiciary, and do not take into account the judgments of the Court of justice of the EU", said these groups of judges in a joint press release.

A green light given yet mid-June

These organizations (Association of European Administrative Judges, European Association of Judges, Rechters voor Rechters, European Magistrates for Democracy and Freedoms) filed an appeal before the CJEU to annul the decision of the States and "prevent the release of funds from the EU” to Poland.

Following the European Commission, EU finance ministers approved the Polish recovery plan in mid-June, endowed with 35.4 billion euros in European funds, in return for a “very significant” commitment. of Warsaw "on the independence of the judiciary".

This investment plan had been blocked for more than a year due to the disputed judicial reform implemented by Warsaw.

Three conditions set by Brussels

Brussels has set three conditions to start disbursing funds: the dismantling of the disciplinary chamber of the Polish Supreme Court – which European justice has been calling for the suspension for more than a year –, the reform of the disciplinary regime for magistrates, and the possibility for sanctioned judges to have their case re-examined.

However, “this prejudices the position of suspended judges in Poland: for example, the CJEU has ordered that Polish judges affected by illegal disciplinary proceedings be reinstated immediately, without delay or procedure” while the third condition “would introduce a procedure of more than a year with an uncertain outcome”, argue the organizations of magistrates.

According to them, by setting these criteria and approving the recovery plan, the Commission and the Member States have contravened the decisions of the European justice, which they are required to “execute unconditionally and completely”.

Damage “to the European judicial system as a whole”

The CJEU, based in Luxembourg, had pinpointed in July 2021 the disciplinary aspect of the judicial reform in Poland, considering in particular that the disciplinary chamber of the Supreme Court did not offer "all the guarantees of impartiality and independence" and n was “not immune to direct or indirect influence from the Polish legislative and executive powers”.

The green light from the Twenty-Seven "also harms the European judicial system as a whole", which is destabilized "if the judicial system of one or more Member States no longer offers guarantees of independence and respect for fundamental principles of the rule of law”, underline the magistrates.

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