The leaders of Hungary and Poland have vowed to maintain a united front and uphold their veto of the EU's budget and its massive pandemic relief fund.
They continue to oppose the mechanism that ties funding for countries to rule of law principles, arguing that the EU plan risks derailing the bloc.
"
Note EU-Digest: Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union should be applied, which is a procedure in the treaties of the European Union (EU) to suspend certain rights from a member state and consequently stop all funding to these two countries within this legal framework".
Read more at:
Hungary and Poland maintain united front blocking EU COVID-19 recovery fund | Euronews
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Showing posts with label Poland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poland. Show all posts
November 27, 2020
November 25, 2020
EU - Opinion on Hungary and Poland: The E.U. Puts Its Foot Down on the Rule of Law - editorial board
After years of passively watching nationalist governments in Hungary and Poland undermine democratic rule, the European Union finally drew the line this year and declared that disbursements from the E.U. budget and a special coronavirus relief fund would be contingent on each member’s adherence to the rule of law. Hungary and Poland have shamelessly retaliated by threatening to veto the Union’s next seven-year budget, emergency funds and all, unless the condition is scrapped.
The governments in Budapest and Warsaw couched their defiance with their usual plaints that the bloc was behaving like their former Soviet overlords. “This is not why we created the European Union, so that there would be a second Soviet Union,” declared Viktor Orban, the proudly illiberal prime minister of Hungary. But such posturing has long been discredited, especially as both right-wing governments have happily reaped huge subsidies from the European Union.
The cynical reactions of Mr. Orban and the right-wing Law and Justice government in Warsaw demonstrated how far they have strayed from the fundamental principles they signed on to when they joined the European Union. They make no bones about it: Hungarian and Polish officials recently met to set up a joint institute to combat the “suppression of opinions by liberal ideology.”
Mr. Orban in particular has systematically worked to curtail the independence of the judiciary, bring the press to heel and curb civil society. With Fidesz, his nationalist party, in full control of Parliament, he took advantage of the coronavirus pandemic in March to assume broad and open-ended emergency powers that effectively allow him to rule by decree for as long as he wants.
Note EU-Digest: "Hungary and Poland want all the benefits of the EU, but do not want to comply with the rules - it's hight time for the EU Commission to give them an ultimatum- live up to the rules of the EU or lose your membership"
Read more at: Opinion | The E.U. Puts Its Foot Down on the Rule of Law - The New York Times
The governments in Budapest and Warsaw couched their defiance with their usual plaints that the bloc was behaving like their former Soviet overlords. “This is not why we created the European Union, so that there would be a second Soviet Union,” declared Viktor Orban, the proudly illiberal prime minister of Hungary. But such posturing has long been discredited, especially as both right-wing governments have happily reaped huge subsidies from the European Union.
The cynical reactions of Mr. Orban and the right-wing Law and Justice government in Warsaw demonstrated how far they have strayed from the fundamental principles they signed on to when they joined the European Union. They make no bones about it: Hungarian and Polish officials recently met to set up a joint institute to combat the “suppression of opinions by liberal ideology.”
Mr. Orban in particular has systematically worked to curtail the independence of the judiciary, bring the press to heel and curb civil society. With Fidesz, his nationalist party, in full control of Parliament, he took advantage of the coronavirus pandemic in March to assume broad and open-ended emergency powers that effectively allow him to rule by decree for as long as he wants.
Note EU-Digest: "Hungary and Poland want all the benefits of the EU, but do not want to comply with the rules - it's hight time for the EU Commission to give them an ultimatum- live up to the rules of the EU or lose your membership"
Read more at: Opinion | The E.U. Puts Its Foot Down on the Rule of Law - The New York Times
March 6, 2020
Coronavirus panic buying in Japan, France, Netherlands, and Poland
As the coronavirus spreads, Business Insider sent some of its international editors to take photos inside local stores where items are low in stock.
Read more at:
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-panic-buying-france-japan-netherlands-poland-2020-3
Read more at:
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-panic-buying-france-japan-netherlands-poland-2020-3
October 14, 2019
Poland: Poland's ruling PiS party wins most votes, according to exit polls
Poland's ruling PiS party wins most votes, according to exit polls
April 10, 2019
Poland: Agriculture - Blue Berries are now produced worldwide and Cooperation was the slogan of The VII International Blueberry Conference in Poland March 7 - 8
Delegates from 27 countries and over 900 participants in total visited the VII International Blueberry Conference. This event confirmed that blueberry producers can work together to achieve common goals. They must continue to do so – there are still many challenges in cultivating and trading blueberries.
Blueberry production is growing in various European countries. One of them is Ukraine, where, as Taras Bashtannyk from Ukrainian Berry reported, the area of blueberry cultivation increased rapidly and in the last 3 years it grew three times to the level of 2100 ha. In 2018, blueberry harvest in Ukraine amounted to 5,000 tons, and it is expected that exports will grow by about 2000-2500 tons in each subsequent year. This means that in 2020, blueberry harvest in Ukraine may exceed 10,000 tons.
In China it is estimated that the area of blueberry cultivation in 2020 will reach 70,000 ha, and the fruit production will amount to 1 million tons in 2025.
A new selection of blueberry varieties gives a chance for further development of the industry. Their features were presented by Andrea Pergher from Fall Creek Farm and Nursery Europe. Fall Creek has started the breeding program almost 20 years ago. The selections have undergone very selective comparison trials before they were released.
Before becoming commercial, the variety must prove to be better than the existing varieties. Fall Creek is managing trial sites in different climatic area where we compare new releases with standard varieties. The plants are planted together at the same age for consistency in data
output.
Based on the the calculations presented by Hans Liekens from Fall Creek Europe, it is justified to say that blueberry market in Europe has a chance to grow, provided that it is possible to increase consumption and penetration of the market. Great Britain, where the average citizen eats 860 g of blueberries annually, sets an example. Meanwhile, the average European citizen consumes 180 g of blueberries annually.
"If we could increase consumption in Europe to the level of Great Britain, an additional 500,000 t of blueberries would be needed. To achieve these goals it is necessary to provide the market with high quality, hard, firm and tasty blueberries. The most important thing is
that the consumer who once buys blueberries will come back for more.
When they are disappointed, because of quality issues, he will cease to be our client. We all are blueberry producers. We all need to look after quality and keep working on it," said Hans Liekens.
During the second day of the 2 day event there were pruning demonstrations and workshops dedicated to establishing blueberry plantations. They were led by Paweł Korfanty, nurseryman and enthusiast of blueberries and Leon Schrijnwerkers - a nursery worker from Netherlands.
He showed how to form ‘Bluecrop’ blueberry bushes and which shoots are the most valuable, how many of them should remain in the bush to ensure good fruit quality.
For the complete report go to:
Cooperation is a key to success for all blueberry growers"
Blueberry production is growing in various European countries. One of them is Ukraine, where, as Taras Bashtannyk from Ukrainian Berry reported, the area of blueberry cultivation increased rapidly and in the last 3 years it grew three times to the level of 2100 ha. In 2018, blueberry harvest in Ukraine amounted to 5,000 tons, and it is expected that exports will grow by about 2000-2500 tons in each subsequent year. This means that in 2020, blueberry harvest in Ukraine may exceed 10,000 tons.
In China it is estimated that the area of blueberry cultivation in 2020 will reach 70,000 ha, and the fruit production will amount to 1 million tons in 2025.
A new selection of blueberry varieties gives a chance for further development of the industry. Their features were presented by Andrea Pergher from Fall Creek Farm and Nursery Europe. Fall Creek has started the breeding program almost 20 years ago. The selections have undergone very selective comparison trials before they were released.
Before becoming commercial, the variety must prove to be better than the existing varieties. Fall Creek is managing trial sites in different climatic area where we compare new releases with standard varieties. The plants are planted together at the same age for consistency in data
output.
Based on the the calculations presented by Hans Liekens from Fall Creek Europe, it is justified to say that blueberry market in Europe has a chance to grow, provided that it is possible to increase consumption and penetration of the market. Great Britain, where the average citizen eats 860 g of blueberries annually, sets an example. Meanwhile, the average European citizen consumes 180 g of blueberries annually.
"If we could increase consumption in Europe to the level of Great Britain, an additional 500,000 t of blueberries would be needed. To achieve these goals it is necessary to provide the market with high quality, hard, firm and tasty blueberries. The most important thing is
that the consumer who once buys blueberries will come back for more.
When they are disappointed, because of quality issues, he will cease to be our client. We all are blueberry producers. We all need to look after quality and keep working on it," said Hans Liekens.
During the second day of the 2 day event there were pruning demonstrations and workshops dedicated to establishing blueberry plantations. They were led by Paweł Korfanty, nurseryman and enthusiast of blueberries and Leon Schrijnwerkers - a nursery worker from Netherlands.
He showed how to form ‘Bluecrop’ blueberry bushes and which shoots are the most valuable, how many of them should remain in the bush to ensure good fruit quality.
For the complete report go to:
Cooperation is a key to success for all blueberry growers"
February 9, 2019
EU: European experience with migration shows that border walls don't stop migration
Aging Europe needs immigration, but in order to achieve this in an
organized and orderly way it needs unity of purpose, better planning,
and certainly no border walls
December 16, 2018
United Nations - Poland - COP24: 200 Nations reach deal to implement the Paris Climate Accord
200 Nations today Saturday December 15 reached a deal to implement the
Paris climate goals, after all-night negotiations to hammer out a plan
to limit global temperature rises exposed a range of conflicts.
Read more at:
December 4, 2018
Hungary: Central European University claims being forced out of Budapest
Without action on climate, civilization will collapse, David Attenborough warns
Read more at:
September 10, 2018
The new emerging face of "Democracy": Taking democracy for granted is a fatal flaw - by Hasan Suroor
Professor of Politics and International Studies at Cambridge
University, David Runciman provides in his book an interesting insight
to Modi’s India and Democracy.
I am not sure that many in the Modi Government would be familiar with the name of David Runciman, professor of Politics and International Studies at Cambridge University.
But this week’s crackdown on civil rights activists and dissidents is the biggest endorsement of his new book, “How Democracy Ends”, in which he lists India as among the countries where democracy is being upended in the name of protecting it from supposedly undemocratic forces. India, according to him, illustrates the threat that democracy is facing from “executive aggrandisement” and “strongmen chipping away at it while paying lip service to it”.
It represents the new emerging face of democracy where it all appears tickety-boo on the surface, but is haemorrhaging from inside. Indians might find it embarrassing that he lumps their country with such authoritarian democracies as Hungary, Poland, Turkey and the Philippines where too “strongmen” are “chipping away” at democratic institutions while paying lip service to them.
Runciman sees Narendra Modi as part of a growing cast of “ever more characterful performers” alongside Donald Trump, Recep Erdogan, and Lech Kazcynski, among others, who have converted democracy into an “elaborate performance” to engage public attention while quietly wrecking it from inside. Like them, he has developed a “personality cult” operating through networks of private interests and hardline followers .
Read more: Taking democracy for granted is a fatal flaw | National Herald
I am not sure that many in the Modi Government would be familiar with the name of David Runciman, professor of Politics and International Studies at Cambridge University.
But this week’s crackdown on civil rights activists and dissidents is the biggest endorsement of his new book, “How Democracy Ends”, in which he lists India as among the countries where democracy is being upended in the name of protecting it from supposedly undemocratic forces. India, according to him, illustrates the threat that democracy is facing from “executive aggrandisement” and “strongmen chipping away at it while paying lip service to it”.
It represents the new emerging face of democracy where it all appears tickety-boo on the surface, but is haemorrhaging from inside. Indians might find it embarrassing that he lumps their country with such authoritarian democracies as Hungary, Poland, Turkey and the Philippines where too “strongmen” are “chipping away” at democratic institutions while paying lip service to them.
Runciman sees Narendra Modi as part of a growing cast of “ever more characterful performers” alongside Donald Trump, Recep Erdogan, and Lech Kazcynski, among others, who have converted democracy into an “elaborate performance” to engage public attention while quietly wrecking it from inside. Like them, he has developed a “personality cult” operating through networks of private interests and hardline followers .
Read more: Taking democracy for granted is a fatal flaw | National Herald
September 8, 2018
Middle East - Idlib - EU: Eight EU countries call for protection of civilians in Idlib
Eight EU member states in the UN Security Council have called on Russia
and Iran to maintain a previously agreed ceasefire and avoid military
escalation in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib to avoid
"catastrophic humanitarian consequences for civilians".
The statement was signed by the UK, France, Sweden, Poland, the Netherlands, together with Germany, Belgium and Italy, who recently sat in the Council or will soon be sitting.
The statement was signed by the UK, France, Sweden, Poland, the Netherlands, together with Germany, Belgium and Italy, who recently sat in the Council or will soon be sitting.
August 27, 2018
EUROPEAN UNITY UNDER ATTACK: FAR RIGHT PLAYERS TEARING EUROPE APART
For the complete report click on link below;
August 8, 2018
EU Citizens under threat from populist right-wing local and foreign politicians who are endangering the EU's unity and economic stability - by RM
 |
| Right-wing populist politicians destabilizing the EU |
These include, but not limited to, (see picture insert) from top left to right: Donald Trump (USA), Steve Bannon (USA), Marine Le Pen (France), Nigel Farage (Britain), Benjamin Netanyahu (Israel), Geert Wilders (the Netherlands), Dr.Jörg Meuthen (Germany), Jarosław Aleksander Kaczyński (Poland), Viktor Mihály Orbán (Hungary),Thierry Henri Philippe Baudet (the Netherlands) Luigi Di Maio (Italy), and Sebastian Kurz (Austria)
It is not a question anymore of how to come to terms with this threat, but how this threat can be eliminated effectively. Tthe majority of Europesn citizens certainly do not want Europe to fall apart into a feuding group of nations, and easy prey for China, Russia and the US.
This issue certainly must, if it is not so already, become the number one objective on the agenda of the EU Commission, the EU Parliament and each individual EU Nation state.
Maybe, in this context it might help to refresh our memory as to the importance of the EU among the world of nations, with some historic background on the EU, and the benefits its citizens enjoy.
The European Union was set up with the aim of ending the frequent and bloody wars between neighbours in Europe, which culminated in the past, and more recently in the First and Second World Wars.
Europeans were determined to prevent such killing and destruction from ever happening again.
After the Second world war, Europe was split into East and West, resulting in a 40-year-long Cold War.
To counter this political problem, West European nations created the Council of Europe in 1949.
It was a first step towards cooperation between them, but six countries even wanted to go further.
As of 1950, the European Coal and Steel Community begins to unite European countries economically and politically in order to secure lasting peace.
The six founding countries were Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
The 1950s were dominated by a cold war between east and west. Protests in Hungary against the Communist regime are put down by Soviet tanks in 1956. ’
On the 8 of May 1950 French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman presents a plan for deeper cooperation. This historic event is celebrated every 9th of May as ' Europe Day'
On 18 April 1951 based on the Schuman plan, six countries signed a treaty to run their heavy industries – coal and steel – under a common management. In this way, none can on its own make the weapons of war to turn against the other, as in the past.
In 1957, the Treaty of Rome created the European Economic Community (EEC), or ‘Common Market
One thing led to another, making the EU what it is today, operating as a single market with 28 member countries, one of the major global trading powers.
EU economic policy seeks to sustain growth by investing in transport, energy and research – while minimising the impact of further economic development on the environment.
In terms of the total value of all goods and services produced (GDP), it is bigger than the US economy. EU GDP in 2017 was €15.3 trillion
Over 64 % of EU countries’ total trade is done with other countries in the EU bloc.
On January 1, 2017, the population of the European Union (EU) was estimated at 511.8 million, compared with 510.3 million on 1 January 2016. During the year 2016, as many births as deaths were recorded in the EU (5.1 million), meaning that the natural change of the EU population was neutral.
With just 6.9 % of the world’s total population, EU trade with the rest of the world accounts for some 15.6 % of global imports and exports.
Consequently, together with the United States and China, the EU is one of the 3 largest global players in international trade.
The 28 EU countries had the second largest share of global imports and exports of goods in 2016.
For individual EU citizen some of the benefits include:
1) Eligibility to live and work everywhere within the EU without further permission.
2) Eligibility to take part in local elections of the community where you are a resident. So if you are a Frenchman living in Munich you can vote for in the election of the Munich
city council, which chooses the mayor. You can even run for a seat in that local municipality.
3) Eligibility to vote in the EU parliamentary elections, and you can even run for a seat.
4) Coming from another EU member country one may not be discriminated against, in relation to local citizen in your place of residence. That means: If local residents are allowed to send their children to public school for free, you are also allowed. If they receive social security payments, you may also receive them.
5) Say you want to run a workshop in Germany, you may even have benefits over and above those of local German citizens. If you are a German running a car repair workshop, you either need a master certificate as a trained car mechanic, or you have to employ somebody who has such a certificate. If, however, you are coming in from another EU country, you only have to show proof that you are a car mechanic with a work experience.
6) As an EU citizen you also have diplomatic protection. If you are in a country where your home country does not have its own embassy, every EU embassy of a member state is obliged to help you if you need help.
7) EU citizens also have the right to communicate with every administrative office within the EU in your own language - and you have the right to receive an answer in your own language.
Bottom line - don't let these right-wing Populists mislead you with vague and confusing arguments, Ask for specifics, like how they would set up things differently, and what the benefits would be for you as a citizen.
And if this results in more garbled rhetoric, like we so often hear from those populist politicians, make sure you tell them they are not convincing you.
There is no way EU citizens would benefit from going back to their own currency, border controls, banking regulations, and nationally protected local trade.
Probably the most remarkable success for the EU has been that, apart from its economic prominence, following the ‘Schuman Declaration’, on 9 May 1950, there have been 68 years of peace across the continent, following this declaration.
The European project, known as the EU is the best thing that ever happened for peace, economic stability and prosperity on the European continent. Another positive is that since it is still a project under development, it can only get better.
We must therefore use all means at our disposal to protect and safeguard it from the destabilizing forces which are presently attacking its existence.
© This article can be republished only if EU=Digest is mentioned as the source
EU-Digest
July 4, 2018
USA - NATO: Trump sends sharply worded letter to NATO leaders to pay more or else
Note EU-Digest: Trump says he is losing his patience with NATO
allies, whom he finds should be paying more for the upkeep of NATO.
Why don't his NATO Allies finally get the guts to tell this narcissist to go to hell, and have the Trump Administration pay for his own disastrous military adventures around the world.
Fortunately there has been a good counter-move by Europe, which is presently setting up their own united military defense force, combining all the EU Nations military forces into one.
Why don't his NATO Allies finally get the guts to tell this narcissist to go to hell, and have the Trump Administration pay for his own disastrous military adventures around the world.
Fortunately there has been a good counter-move by Europe, which is presently setting up their own united military defense force, combining all the EU Nations military forces into one.
For the complete report click on link below
February 3, 2018
Poland: Warsaw lawmakers pass Holocaust bill to restrict term 'Polish death camps'
 |
| Polish Holocaust Death Camp |
Poland's ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) says the bill is needed to protect Poland's reputation and ensure historians recognize that Poles as well as Jews perished under the Nazis. Israeli officials said it criminalizes basic historical facts.
The Senate voted on the bill in the early hours on Thursday and it will now be sent to President Andrzej Duda, who has 21 days to decide whether to sign it into law.
The president has not said whether he will sign the bill, but has suggested he sympathizes with its aims. He told state television on Monday: "The matter needs to be explained calmly, but we absolutely cannot backtrack."
The bill would impose three years prison sentences for mentioning the term "Polish death camps," although it says scientific research into the Second World War would not be constrained.
Israel "adamantly opposes" the bill's approval, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
"Israel views with utmost gravity any attempt to challenge historical truth.
No law will change the facts," ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Nahshon said on Twitter.
Israeli Housing Minister Yoav Galant, one of several cabinet ministers to denounce the bill, told Israel's Army Radio that he considered it "de facto Holocaust denial."
The bill has come at a time when right-wing, anti-immigrant parties like PiS have been in the ascendancy in Europe, especially in the former Communist countries of the east. EU officials have expressed alarm over the PiS administration in Poland, which they say has undermined the rule of law by exerting pressure over the courts and media.
The socially conservative, nationalist PiS has reignited debate on the Holocaust as part of a campaign to fuel patriotism since sweeping into power in 2015.
The U.S. State Department said the legislation "could undermine free speech and academic discourse" and Washington was concerned about the repercussions it could have "on Poland's strategic interests and relationships."
Read more: Warsaw lawmakers pass Holocaust bill to restrict term 'Polish death camps' - World - CBC News
January 7, 2018
Hungary ‘should be kicked out of EU’ - by Armend Nimani
Europe’s cultural divisions deepened yesterday after Luxembourg
called for Hungary to be kicked out of the EU because of the country’s
hard stance on Muslim refugees and migrants.The row has further poisoned relations between liberal western European countries and eastern Europe three days before a crucial summit on the future of the EU after Britain’s vote to leave in June.
Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg’s foreign minister, demanded the suspension or expulsion of Hungary over its authoritarianism and anti-migrant razor wire fences on its Balkan borders.
“We cannot accept that the EU’s fundamental values are being massively violated,” he told the German newspaper Die Welt.
“Anyone, like Hungary, who builds fences against refugees fleeing war or breaches press freedom and the independence of the justice system should be temporarily, or if needed, for ever excluded from the EU.”
Note EU-Digest: If the EU would do this they should include Poland in the process - unfortunately it does not have the power and guts to do so.
Read more: Hungary ‘should be kicked out of EU’ | World | The Times & The Sunday Times
December 29, 2017
Poland and Hungary want their cake and eat it also: EU’s biggest challenge for 2018: Poland, Hungary- by Beata Stur
The conflict between the European Commission and Poland and Hungary
could be the greatest challenge awaiting Brussels in the new year.
According to Jon Henley, reporting for the Guardian, the two former communist bloc countries face the risk of becoming the EU’s “first rogue states”.
“How Europe deals with members deliberately flouting the core western liberal norms and values it strives to embody – social tolerance, respect for free speech, an independent judiciary – could dominate 2018 far more than Britain’s exit,” Henley wrote.
In December, Brussels triggered Article 7 of the EU Treaty against Poland over changes to the judiciary by the country’s ruling conservatives. The mechanism could ultimately lead to Poland losing its EU voting rights.
In the same month, the European Commission referred Hungary to the European Court of Justice over Viktor Orban’s “ongoing assault on political freedoms”.
Both governments have also met with criticism for refusing to take in refugees.
While the formal warning to Poland – which could strip the country of its EU voting rights, seems unlikely because it requires a unanimous vote of all member states, calls to make EU funds conditional on upholding the rule of law are more real.
Poland and Hungary are among the largest net recipients of EU funds. Countries such as Germany, France and the Nordic states support this approach.
Note EU-Digest: Like Britain, Hungary and Poland seem to think that you can have your cake and eat it also in the EU. "That is not the way the cookie crumbles".
“How Europe deals with members deliberately flouting the core western liberal norms and values it strives to embody – social tolerance, respect for free speech, an independent judiciary – could dominate 2018 far more than Britain’s exit,” Henley wrote.
In December, Brussels triggered Article 7 of the EU Treaty against Poland over changes to the judiciary by the country’s ruling conservatives. The mechanism could ultimately lead to Poland losing its EU voting rights.
In the same month, the European Commission referred Hungary to the European Court of Justice over Viktor Orban’s “ongoing assault on political freedoms”.
Both governments have also met with criticism for refusing to take in refugees.
While the formal warning to Poland – which could strip the country of its EU voting rights, seems unlikely because it requires a unanimous vote of all member states, calls to make EU funds conditional on upholding the rule of law are more real.
Poland and Hungary are among the largest net recipients of EU funds. Countries such as Germany, France and the Nordic states support this approach.
Note EU-Digest: Like Britain, Hungary and Poland seem to think that you can have your cake and eat it also in the EU. "That is not the way the cookie crumbles".
November 20, 2017
EU Parliament warns Poland on rule of law
In the vote, the Parliament decided by 438 votes to 152 to prepare a
formal request that the Council activate the preventive mechanism
provided for in Article 7.1.of the Treaty. If the risk persists and the
Polish authorities refuse to comply with the EU recommendations, the
procedure might lead to the suspension of Poland's voting rights in the
Council.
Specific concerns were voiced about the separation of powers, the independence of the judiciary and fundamental rights.
The resolution calls on the Polish authorities to uphold the common European values listed in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union and in the Polish Constitution. It urges Poland:
not to proceed the new laws unless they fully guarantee the independence of the judiciary to implement all EU Commission and Venice Commission recommendations in full,
to comply with the EU Court of Justice order to "immediately suspend large-scale logging" in the ancient Bialowieza forest,
to respect the right of freedom of assembly,
to strongly condemn the "xenophobic and fascist march that took place in Warsaw" on Saturday,11 November 2017, and
to take a firm stand on women's rights, by providing free and accessible contraception without discrimination and making emergency contraception available without medical prescription.
Under Parliament's Rules of Procedure (Rule 83), its Civil Liberties Committee now needs to draw up a "reasoned proposal", the document required to call on the Council to trigger the rule of law mechanism in response to a "clear risk of a serious breach" of European values by the Polish authorities.
This is only the second time that the European Parliament has taken formal steps to call on the Council to start the Article 7 procedure. The first was taken in May 2017 with respect to Hungary. The procedure is still under way.
The dialogue between the Commission and the Polish authorities is conducted under the "rule of law" procedure initiated in January 2016.
Read more: EU Parliament warns Poland on rule of law — EUbusiness.com | EU news, business and politics
Specific concerns were voiced about the separation of powers, the independence of the judiciary and fundamental rights.
The resolution calls on the Polish authorities to uphold the common European values listed in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union and in the Polish Constitution. It urges Poland:
not to proceed the new laws unless they fully guarantee the independence of the judiciary to implement all EU Commission and Venice Commission recommendations in full,
to comply with the EU Court of Justice order to "immediately suspend large-scale logging" in the ancient Bialowieza forest,
to respect the right of freedom of assembly,
to strongly condemn the "xenophobic and fascist march that took place in Warsaw" on Saturday,11 November 2017, and
to take a firm stand on women's rights, by providing free and accessible contraception without discrimination and making emergency contraception available without medical prescription.
Under Parliament's Rules of Procedure (Rule 83), its Civil Liberties Committee now needs to draw up a "reasoned proposal", the document required to call on the Council to trigger the rule of law mechanism in response to a "clear risk of a serious breach" of European values by the Polish authorities.
This is only the second time that the European Parliament has taken formal steps to call on the Council to start the Article 7 procedure. The first was taken in May 2017 with respect to Hungary. The procedure is still under way.
The dialogue between the Commission and the Polish authorities is conducted under the "rule of law" procedure initiated in January 2016.
Read more: EU Parliament warns Poland on rule of law — EUbusiness.com | EU news, business and politics
October 20, 2017
Poland: Amnesty International (AI) slams Poland for undermining freedom of assembly
 |
| Protest in Poland against Human Rights abuses by Government |
The report "Poland: on the streets to defend human rights" focuses on several demonstrations against the government's policies since late 2015, when the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) government came into office.
Amnesty alleges Polish police and justice authorities have suppressed anti-government protesters. The report was based on observations by Amnesty monitors at some protests and interviews with protesters.
The report published on Thursday notes that Polish authorities have carried out prolonged ID checks of protesters, depriving them of their freedom of movement.
"The Polish government is trying to instill fear in those who want to peacefully protest," Barbora Cernusakova, a researcher with Amnesty International who monitors Poland, said.
"[It] is cracking down on peaceful protesters in a blatant attempt to dissuade further protests," amnesty said in a report published on Thursday.
Read more: Amnesty International (AI) slams Poland for undermining freedom of assembly | News | DW | 19.10.2017
August 29, 2017
Poland tells EU its overhaul of judiciary in line with EU standards
Poland said on Monday that the legislative process overhauling its
judiciary is in line with European standards and called the European
Commission’s concerns about rule of law in the country groundless.
On July 26, the Commission said it would launch legal action against Poland over the reforms and gave Warsaw a month to respond to concerns that the process undermines the independence of judges and breaks EU rules.
Last month, Polish President Andrzej Duda signed into a law a bill giving the justice minister the power to replace heads of ordinary courts, but after mass street protests blocked two other bills.
Read more: Poland tells EU its overhaul of judiciary in line with EU standards
On July 26, the Commission said it would launch legal action against Poland over the reforms and gave Warsaw a month to respond to concerns that the process undermines the independence of judges and breaks EU rules.
Last month, Polish President Andrzej Duda signed into a law a bill giving the justice minister the power to replace heads of ordinary courts, but after mass street protests blocked two other bills.
Read more: Poland tells EU its overhaul of judiciary in line with EU standards
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