Eight in ten Poles want judicial system reformed: deputy PM

The European Commission said on Monday it would launch infringement proceedings against Poland for alleged breaches of EU law amid "grave concerns" over sweeping judicial changes.

Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who is also Poland’s finance minister, told Bloomberg television: “My understanding of the whole situation is that 80 percent of Polish society wants the judiciary system to be reformed.”

President Andrzej Duda on Monday said he would veto two controversial government-backed bills, including one that would have forced the Polish Supreme Court's existing justices into retirement.

Morawiecki told Bloomberg: “The reaction of the bond market and currency market was zero” to the vetoes.

Morawiecki added that Duda “said he will present new legislation. To overturn his veto is not possible in this parliament because it requires a three-fifths majority. The previous legislation is kind of closed and now the [next] move will be made by the president.”

Morawiecki admitted that Polish relations with the EU have been “not so rosy over the last 18 months."

"But I believe there were lots of misunderstandings in all of this... everybody agrees that the post-communist judiciary system needs reform because there were not too many changes after 1989” when communism collapsed in Poland.

Asked if he was ready to take action in case market sentiment turns against Poland, Morawiecki said: “Markets and investors are for me critically important... We do everything to make sure that investors are happy and they are certain about our democracy.”

He added: “The Polish currency strengthened from the beginning of this year significantly. It was the strongest currency of all the emerging markets in the world. So there is a vote of confidence.”

(pk)