(Bloomberg) — Poland should lose a legal fight with the European Union over controversial judicial reforms, an adviser to the bloc’s top court said, in an opinion just days after the nation promised to scale back some of the measures in return for unlocking billions of euros in funds.
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Poland was hit with a record daily €1 million ($1.1 million) fine by the EU’s top judges in the case last year, after ignoring a court order to dismantle a contested regime for disciplining judges. The European Commission sued Poland last year over its disciplinary regime and a law aimed at punishing those who are too critical.
Poland’s law “amending rules on the organization of its ordinary courts and its Supreme Court infringes EU law,” Advocate General Anthony Collins of the EU’s Court of Justice said in a non-binding opinion Thursday. The Luxembourg-based court follows such advice in many cases.
The case and Poland’s response just a few months ago to defend its judicial reforms as necessary to improve an inefficient system, are in stark contrast to moves by the nation this week to try to roll back the contested overhaul. Poland this week reached a preliminary agreement with the EU on legal changes that could help it gain access to more than €35 billion in post-pandemic funding.
Poland’s refusal to pay the daily fine has led the commission to start withholding funds earmarked for the nation.
The case is: C-204/21, European Commission v. Republic of Poland.
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