EU court upholds €320M fine against Poland over judicial reforms News
Luxofluxo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
EU court upholds €320M fine against Poland over judicial reforms

DunixeBerlanas, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The EU General Court on Wednesday upheld a significant financial penalty against Poland, amounting to approximately €320 million, over its non-compliance with EU laws through its judicial reforms enacted in 2019.

The European Commission argued that legislative changes to Poland’s judicial system, specifically those adopted in December 2019, contravened foundational EU principles, prompting legal proceedings.

Poland was initially penalized with a daily fine of €1 million in November 2021 due to non-compliance with a prior court order to suspend certain national judicial provisions. Following partial adjustments made by Poland in June 2022, which aimed to align its laws with EU directives, the daily fine was reduced to €500,000.

Despite these legislative efforts, Poland’s inconsistent payment of the penalties led to the European Commission recovering the owed amounts by offsetting them against various claims held by Poland within the EU. This method of recovery totaled approximately €320 million for penalties accrued from July 2022 to June 2023. Poland’s subsequent legal challenge to annul the Commission’s offset decisions was dismissed by the General Court, which confirmed that the offsets did not breach EU law and justified compliance enforcement.

This ruling aligns with efforts by the Polish new government under Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who has been proactive in reversing the controversial reforms to restore the rule of law, a move that convinced Brussels to unfreeze significant funds previously withheld due to the judicial overhaul.

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