EU chides Poland again over rule of law, judicial conflict

LUXEMBOURG – The European Union’s executive has criticized Poland for exacerbating its conflict with the bloc over the state of the rule of law in the nation and the controversial nomination of new judges.

EU Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans said Tuesday that “sadly things have not improved” in Poland and specifically mentioned Warsaw’s move to swear in 27 new Supreme Court judges last week while the issue was under EU judicial review.

Timmermans said the least the Polish authorities should have done was freeze further appointments.

“In fact, they speeded up the process by nominating ever more judges,” Timmermans said. He said he was also worried that Polish judges no longer got “unfettered, independent access to the European Court of Justice” with questions about interpretation of EU law.