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