The European Commission plans to end the ‘atomic bomb procedure’ against Poland. She started it in 2017 because there was a serious risk of violations of the rule of law under the Law and Justice party (PIS), which was in power in Warsaw until last year.
The heavy word ‘atomic bomb’ refers to the Article 7 procedure of the Lisbon Treaty, which could theoretically lead to the suspension of a Member State’s voting rights in the European Councils of Ministers. However, the member states did not want to push through and Poland could count on the support of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban all these years. A procedure under Article 7 has been underway against Hungary since 2018, this time at the initiative of the European Parliament. But even in that case the atomic bomb will not be activated.
For the government of pro-European Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who came to power at the end of last year, the Commission’s decision is a symbolic boost in the run-up to the European elections. He received congratulations from Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for “this important breakthrough. The ongoing restoration of the rule of law in Poland is great news for the Polish people and for the EU as a whole.”
However, the Tusk government has not yet succeeded in implementing thorough reforms in the justice system, partly due to the opposition of Polish President Andrzej Duda, who is aligned with the PIS party. For the time being it remains largely ambitions.
No political considerations
However, according to Commission spokesman Christian Wigand, the decision was not motivated by political considerations – Tusk and Von der Leyen are both members of the European People’s Party. He refers to the action plan with reforms that the new government approved in February, the concrete bills it has already submitted and the Tusk government’s recognition of the primacy of European law. In 2021, after a series of political appointments by the PIS government, the Polish Constitutional Court ruled that the European treaties were not compatible with the Polish Constitution.
“After examining those factors, we have concluded that there is no longer a clear risk of serious violations of the rule of law,” Wigand said. Member States still have the opportunity to respond, but ultimately the Commission will decide on its own.
At the beginning of March, the Commission already unblocked 137 billion euros in European aid for Poland. This concerns the money from the corona recovery fund and from the cohesion funds that are intended to close the gap with the richer Member States. The Polish opposition already accused Von der Leyen of applying “a double standard”.
