Poland pitches way out of Article 7 as Brussels hails 'positive dynamic'

Poland pitched on Tuesday a way out of Article 7, the European Union's special procedure to correct rule-of-law violations.

Transcript

00:00 Poland wants to reconcile with the EU. On Tuesday, Poland proposed a way out of Article

00:09 7, the EU's special procedure for when a country betrays the Union's values. The article was

00:14 triggered against Poland in December 2017 after judicial reforms proposed by the previous

00:20 government were seen to undermine the rule of law. The new government, run by former

00:24 President of the European Council Donald Tusk, has presented a nine-point action plan to

00:28 restore Poland's judicial independence and reverse Article 7. "The action plan is a step

00:37 in the direction which might lead to the closure of the Article 7, but there is much work to

00:44 be done and the minister today presented a series of laws which will have to be adopted

00:51 in Poland so that to get there." Poland was the first country against which Article 7

00:58 was triggered, so the way out is not completely clear. Ideally, Warsaw would like to have

01:03 Article 7 lifted by the 1st of May, the anniversary of Poland's accession to the EU. This analyst

01:09 said this could be possible. "Indeed, there is no doubt that the new Polish government

01:15 is truly determined to restore the rule of law and to do everything it takes to change

01:20 the legal reality in Poland. In fact, the main argument for the Commission or for the

01:28 Council for the EU member states to lift the Article 7 procedure would be to acknowledge

01:35 by acknowledging that the reality in Poland has in fact changed. Even if not all pieces

01:49 of legislation which are underway may be adopted by the end of April." Article 7 is also known

02:00 as the EU's nuclear weapon. The disciplinary measure includes stripping a country of its

02:05 right to vote, but for Poland it needs to be rid of it, not least to be back at the

02:10 centre of the European decision-making process. "If Poland is out of this procedure, it means

02:17 that we are stronger as a member state, that we might have more influence on how the European

02:23 integration is going and we'll have more power in also supporting those ideas, projects that

02:30 we would like to implement at the EU level." Poland still needs to solve some internal

02:38 issues with its President Andrzej Duda, who has recently acted in the interests of the

02:42 former government. But if Poland manages to exit Article 7, Hungary will be the only EU

02:48 country left in its shackles.

02:50 (audience laughing)