Polish president signs pair of laws that led to EU sanction threat

Poland’s president signed two laws Wednesday that complete a radical overhaul of the Polish justice system, ignoring a warning from the European Union that the legislation breached fundamental democratic principles and could lead to unprecedented sanctions against the member state. President Andrzej Duda’s approval of the laws he had a hand in drafting was not unexpected, but his announcement came just hours after the EU’s executive body triggered proceedings over a series of laws that give the Polish government more control over the judiciary and courts.

The developments reflect a dramatic historical reversal for Poland, the birthplace of an anti-communist movement in the 1980s that inspired people across Eastern Europe and has been held up as a model of democratic transition for more than a quarter century.

The right-wing Law and Justice party that has ruled Poland for two years has enacted several laws that critics say erode the separation of powers between the executive and judicial branches and could interfere with defendants receiving fair trials.

The European Commission announced Wednesday that it was invoking what is known as Article 7 — essentially putting Poland on notice that it is at risk of contravening EU law — in response.

Though the step was historic — no EU state has ever been censured in this way — for now it is largely symbolic and reflects the escalating tensions between Poland’s populist government and its EU partners.

The final step in the process would involve sanctions, including the loss by Poland of its voting rights in the Council.

This step, however, is considered unlikely to happen because it requires unanimity of EU countries, and Hungary’s government has vowed to block any such move.

“We are doing this for Poland, for Polish citizens,” so they can rely on a fully independent judiciary in their nation, EU Commissioner Frans Timmermans said in announcing the decision. Timmermans said the decision was taken with a “heavy heart” but had become unavoidable because Poland’s authorities could not be persuaded to abandon laws that have been condemned not only by the EU but also by the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe, the continent’s top human rights body. Poland’s government, which has defiantly gone forward with its changes to the legal system despite repeated warnings from the EU, took the decision in its stride.