EU Commissioner-'Will Take Time' For Rule Of Law Reforms To Unlock Funds

Reuters reporting comments from European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders stating that the new Polish gov't will need 'some time' to enact the requisite reforms to the country's judiciary that would see currently-frozen EU funding released. Earlier on 15 Dec, returning PM Donald Tusk met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen where it was announced that an initial EUR5bn tranche of COVID-19 recovery funding, frozen due to rule of law, concerns would be released.

• In something of a dampener on the recent rapprochement between Brussels and Warsaw, Reynders stated that future funds could take more time. Reynders: "There is the commitment. The message is very important about the rule of law. But that is not enough. We need to see the reforms. That will take some time."
• Reynders raised the issue of the pursing of judges by a controversial disciplinary body, which could be removed without a change to the law, bypassing the prospect of a veto from President Andrzej Duda, who hails from the right-wing Law and Justice Party now in opposition.
• Reuters: "The 5 billion euros of aid comes free of the EU's usual rule of law conditions and is part of Poland's 60-billion-euro chunk of the bloc's COVID recovery stimulus. Warsaw said it applied for another 7 billion euros but needs to make strides towards meeting the bloc's democratic requirements to get it. The same goes for a further 75 billion euros worth of development assistance assigned for Poland under the EU's shared 2021-27 budget...."