EP wants Council to act to protect minorities and the rule of law in Poland
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In a resolution adopted on Thursday with 513 votes to 148 and 33 abstentions, the European Parliament expresses concerns regarding the legislative and electoral system, the independence of the judiciary, and fundamental rights in Poland.
MEPs seized the opportunity to discuss the case of certain local authorities declaring their territories “LGBTI-free zones”, and ask the Commission whether this may constitute unlawful discrimination in employment, referring to the Rete Lenford case.
In the adopted resolution, the EP strongly deplores both the “Polish Stonewall” mass arrest and subsequent treatment of 48 LGBTI activists on 7 August 2020, and the Polish Episcopate’s official position in favour of “conversion therapy”.
Stop democracy from backsliding
MEPs are deeply concerned that the situation has seriously deteriorated since the Article 7 procedure was initiated by the Commission in 2017. They call “on the Council and the Commission to refrain from narrowly interpreting the principle of the rule of law, and to use the procedure under Article 7(1) TEU to its full potential […] for all the principles enshrined in Article 2 TEU”. Noting that the last hearing “was held as long ago as December 2018”, they urge the Council “to finally act […] in the light of overwhelming evidence thereof”.
“The broad support for this report is the best response to the allegations about a ‘leftist conspiracy’. What the Polish government has forgotten is that democracy is not about majority rule, but about respecting EU law, pluralism, the right to dissent and protecting minorities.
Parliament has issued several resolutions on this subject and the Commission has launched four infringement procedures, yet the Polish authorities still refuse to respect European values and continue to operate in contempt of the European legal order. It is high time that the Council concludes the Article 7 proceedings in a meaningful manner”, said rapporteur Juan Fernando López Aguilar of the Socialist Party.
