• On 20 December 2017, the European Commission launched proceedings against Poland for the possible breach of European common values stipulated in Article 2 of the Treaty of the European Union;

• The procedure, described in the Article 7 of TEU, includes regular “hearings” of Poland’s and Commission’s positions before the Council. The first two hearings took place on 26 June and 18 September 2018;

• Article 7 could lead to sanctions such as suspending Poland’s voting rights in the Council;

• In the report, prepared for the 3rd hearing on 11 December, Commission summarises how Poland responded to the concerns it expressed regarding the rule of law;

• The Commission criticised Poland’s moves in relation to the Supreme Court, the National Council for the Judiciary, ordinary courts, the new disciplinary regime, extraordinary appeal procedure, appointment regime of court presidents, and Constitutional Court;

• The report states that the recent amendment to the law on the Supreme Court is a step in the right direction. However, Commission maintains the vast majority of its concerns. In most cases the situation has worsened since the beginning of the Article 7 procedure in December 2017.

Full report can be found here: 3rd EC report on rule of law in Poland