The member states did not reach unanimity on Monday on the EU’s multi-annual budget and the decisions on the reconstruction fund. Poland and Hungary raised objections to the regulation linking EU funds to the rule of law. The regulation was adopted by qualified majority of the Member States.
Minister Ziobro on Monday evening in an interview on Telewizja Trwam said that the proposed mechanism would lead to the façade of democracy in Poland. “Poles could go to elections, and the final decisions would be made by officials in Brussels. (…) We can never agree to such a mechanism” – emphasized the minister.
According to Ziobro, a veto on the EU budget was necessary. – That is why I appealed for this veto and that is why two weeks earlier PiS president Jarosław Kaczyński also categorically said that “if this element of blackmail is continued, Poland will apply the veto” – indicated the head of the Ministry of Justice.
He added that after the declarations of PiS politicians, he had no doubts that Poland would veto the EU budget. “I was convinced that it would be like that. (…) This is the end of the sovereignty understood so far in Poland. You have to say hard + no + and the veto was necessary at this stage” – he emphasized.
The rest of the article is below the video:
In his opinion, the mechanism of linking access to EU funds with the rule of law “is not about any rule of law”. “The rule of law is only a pretext here. It is really about a mechanism that transfers huge, real power from Poland to Brussels,” said Ziobro.
As he pointed out, it boils down to “receiving hundreds of billions of zlotys for the Polish economy as an element of blackmail in a situation where we will not introduce such changes (…), which will be emphasized by Brussels”.
Zbigniew Ziobro
When asked whether the mechanism of linking the payment of EU funds to the rule of law would block the reform of the judiciary in Poland, he replied: – Yes, it would be one of the areas that would be definitely concreted and which we could not change in any way. Ziobro added that possible sanctions could be aimed at reversing changes introduced in the Polish judiciary.
At the meeting of the EU ambassadors, Andrzej Sadoś, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Poland to the EU, presented the position that Poland rejects the political agreement between the EP negotiators and the German presidency on the conditionality mechanism in the EU budget. The text of the regulation on the conditioning of EU funds to compliance with the rule of law was confirmed by a qualified majority of Member States; Poland and Hungary voted against. The EU has not been able to reach unanimity on the budget for 2021-2027 and the reconstruction fund.
The next procedural step regarding the rule of law mechanism is the formal approval of the text by the Council of the EU by written procedure (unanimity is not needed). The presidency will decide when it happens.
On Monday, during a press conference, Zbigniew Ziobro called for Poland to veto the EU budget. – Now is the moment when Poland can veto the EU budget; I am convinced that the veto will be applied – said Ziobro. He added that no veto would mean a complete loss of confidence in the prime minister “with all the consequences”.
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