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Central Europe
December 1, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 12
country slipping 7 places to 50th place.
The EU heavyweights voice concern over the gov- ernment's practice of paying out EU funds in an accelerated fashion, before the 2018 general elec- tion. ”The rapid disbursement leads to inefficient use of EU money, and greatly increases the risks of corruption”, they add.
The former EU commissioners recommended
a temporary cessation of EU funds, which can be restored as soon as "basic democratic freedoms are reinstated and corruption counteracted".
Poland's controversial judicial reform passes first parliamentary hurdle
bne IntelliNews
Poland’s ruling party Law and Justice (PiS) party easily passed President Andrzej Duda’s proposals to reform the country’s Supreme Court and the system of electing judges in the first reading in the parliament on November 24.
The reform, which PiS is confident to move through the entire law-making process by the end of the year, has heightened concerns about the populist party’s plans to put the judiciary under political control. If passed – which appears very likely – the proposals will also reignite Poland’s conflict with the European Union over adhering
to the rule of law.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, has been probing what it sees as a viola- tion of the EU’s rule of law principles since Janu- ary 2016, threatening to strip Poland of its voting
“We strongly believe that this is also a pre-condi- tion for continuing EU funding to less developed regions in the period following 2020 in light of growing resentment all over Europe about the inefficient and improper use of European Union funds,” they add.
Hungary's economy relies heavily on EU funds as more than 95% of public investment projects receive EU co-financing. The slowdown in money transfers from Brussels last year has led to
a sharp 20% decline in investments and
a meagre 2% GDP growth.
The president's proposal retains PiS’ main provision, which is to establish political control over nominating members of the judge-appointing body.
rights in the bloc. The European Parliament also stepped up pressure on Warsaw recently.
The passing of Duda’s bill on Supreme Court and the judge-appointing body KRS marks the sec- ond attempt by PiS to force through the reform. The plan was however thwarted, apparently only temporarily, by mass street protests last summer, after which Duda vetoed two out of three key bills, vowing to present his own improved versions.
Following the vetoes, the details of the proposed bills – the bill on the Supreme Court in particular – became subject to negotiations between Duda and PiS in an apparent demonstration of the president becoming more independent from the party. Duda was PiS’ candidate in the presidential election in 2015 and earned criticism early into his term for reducing his office to a party outpost.