Poland Caves to EU Pressure on Rule of Law, Vows to Reform Judiciary

LOCAL NEWS

• Poland's govt promised to change justice reform measures that the ECJ ruled infringes on the bloc's standards regarding judicial independence and rule of law – with the next phase of judicial reforms to start within the next few months.
  • "Poland will continue judicial reforms, including in the area of judges' responsibility, to improve the effectiveness of this system," it said. "In this context, plans to dissolve the Disciplinary Chamber in its current form were announced"
• Opposition parties plan to challenge the ruling camp's recently weakened dominance over the lower house of the parliament by motioning the dismissal of PiS-appointed lower house speaker Elzbieta Witek.
  • All opposition leaders reportedly are slated to meet today to pick a joint candidate for the position, a condition sine qua non for the dismissal motion filing
• President Duda will almost certainly veto the media law that would force Discovery Communications to sell down its stake in Polish broadcaster.
  • Still, PiS politicians play down the signals from the head of state, claiming no signals of a veto came from the presidential palace
• Economist says Poland's fundamental inflation trend, stripped of temporary factors, seems to be within the 3.5-4.0% and will likely hold near those figures for quarters to come, Price trends seem above the path sketched in the latest NBP projection.
  • While price hikes in services may not last after initial post-restrictions surge, capacity utilization in manufacturing and rising labor costs will put pressure on end product prices