On Wednesday, 16 February, the CJEU issued a judgment on the “money for the rule of law” mechanism. The mechanism makes the payment of EU funds conditional on the state of the rule of law in a given country. Thus, the European court ruled that the above mechanism complies with EU law. The complaints filed by Poland and Hungary were dismissed.
As we read in Business Insider:
The conditionality mechanism agreed by EU leaders and member states in 2020 aims to protect the EU budget in the event of breaches of the rule of law in member states. Its slogan is “Money for the rule of law.” This means that the Union can block the payment of funds to a member state if there are suspicions that the funds would be used improperly and that the state is not complying with the principles of the rule of law.
The governments of Poland and Hungary filed complaints against the operation of the conditionality mechanism. According to Warsaw and Budapest, the rule is incompatible with the EU treaties and interferes with the powers of the member states. In the view of Poland and Hungary, the conditionality mechanism does not define any criteria for fulfilling the rule-of-law conditions that would be easy to measure and verify.
Representatives of United Right are sharply criticizing the CJEU judgment.
Czy wyrok TSUE jest atakiem na suwerenność Polski?
Government spokesperson Piotr Mueller:
Today’s judgment unfortunately confirms the dangerous tendency of the CJEU and EU institutions to extend the application of legal provisions beyond the EU treaties.
Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice Sebastian Kaleta:
Unity is needed today in the face of the attack on our sovereignty; Poland must defend its democracy against the blackmail intended to deprive us of the right to self-determination. All the more so because Poland is to lose funds for solutions that are standard in Spain and Germany.
Also on Wednesday, the Constitutional Tribunal, headed by Julia Przyłębska, began deliberations on the compatibility of the conditionality mechanism with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. However, the case was not decided and was adjourned.