Polish Deputy FM: freezing funds for EU members over rule of law ‘unlikely’
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
31.05.2017 12:14
It is unlikely the European Commission will freeze funds for countries which allegedly do not respect the rule of law, Polish deputy Foreign Minister Konrad Szymański has said.
Photo: Flickr.com/European Parliament
Speaking to Polish Radio on Wednesday, Szymański commented on a recent article by the Politico website which said a classified document from the office of German Chancellor Angela Merkel showed that the government in Berlin “is looking into ways to enable the European Commission to freeze funding for EU member countries that don’t comply with the bloc’s standards regarding the rule of law.”
Politico added that Poland, which has clashed with Brussels over issues related to the rule of law, including the independence of the judiciary, could be at risk of losing of EU funding aimed at aiding poorer regions, known as cohesion funds.
Szymański said that blocking EU funds due to rule-of-law concerns would be “difficult to achieve”.
He added that such a move would not be in line with the “character” of the European Union. Warsaw has denied violating the rule of law and democratic principles.
“The [Commission] is an executive body, and the mechanism for limiting the rights of individual member states would be dependent on its political will,” Szymański said.
(rg/pk)