“It was a very intense, reasoned meeting and I am happy that we met,” the deputy foreign minister summed up his meeting with the EU commissioner on Tuesday. He said that Poland showed will to engage in a dialogue and stressed that EU institutions need to treat all member states equally. “Both sides must be ready to present their positions and most importantly, listen to each other,” said Deputy Minister Jabłoński. He also expressed his disappointment with the fact that Commissioner Jourová did not meet with the Supreme Court’s Disciplinary Chamber and the National Council of the Judiciary which are the main bodies involved in the ongoing dispute.

 During the meeting, Commissioner Jourová listened to the arguments of the Polish side and assured that the European Commission did not mean to interfere in the internal organization of Polish judiciary. Instead, it aims at ensuring that the European Union’s judiciary functions well. 

 Both the Polish side and the European Commission underscore the importance of the rule of law principle and express their will to cooperate and continue the dialogue. In this context, Deputy Minister Jabłoński said that Poland hopes that the European Commission objectively assesses the new solutions that are part of the judiciary reform, after analyzing their results. He also noted that the European Commission’s concerns relating to the introduction of an extraordinary appeal to the Polish legal system proved unfounded. This measure works well: it is used in cases of blatant law violation and does not pose a threat to legal certainty.

Another issue on the agenda was counteracting disinformation. Commissioner Jourová stressed the will and engagement of EU institutions in combating disinformation and threats posed by new technologies. Deputy Minister Jabłoński said that it is particularly important for Poland to effectively counter disinformation. Poland is fully committed to EU cooperation in this regard. It actively participates in the Rapid Alert System and strategic communications. “At home, Poland is consistently developing its capabilities to counter disinformation,” said the deputy MFA chief. He went on to say that in 2019, the MFA launched a special unit to detect, analyze and counter disinformation.

 

MFA Press Office

Fot. Tymon Markowski / MSZ