European Parliament votes in favor of imposing sanctions against Poland
The European Parliament (EP) will support the European Commission (EC) in its actions against Poland, Polskie Radio reports.
The European deputies have adopted a resolution to support the first stage of the procedures provided for in Article 7 of the EU Treaty. In December 2017, the EC issued a statement regarding the measures criticizing judicial reform in Poland. The Polish reforms, in the opinion of the European commissioners, threaten the independence of the courts.
The resolution says that the European MPs embrace the decision of the European Commission and urge the Polish authorities to solve the problem. The European Parliament also called on EU countries to act quickly and expressed the hope that it will be informed about the activities in progress.
The European Commission decided to launch sanction procedures against Poland for the first time in its history due to rule of law violations. The Commission gave the Polish authorities three months to take steps through legal proceedings to rectify the situation. If Poland does not do so, it could lead to the imposition of sanctions against the country and, in particular, to Poland losing its vote in the EU.