EU Commissioner Jean-Claude Juncker and Premier Mateusz Morawiecki will clash heads tomorrow over controversial judicial reforms and Poland’s internal affairs.
Mr Juncker and Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans triggered Article 7 against the rebel state last month, demanding Poland steps in line with the rest of the EU.
But Janusz Lewandowski, a Polish MEP from the Civic Platform party (PO) said all attempts to halt Article 7 are futile.
He said: “Prime Minister Morawiecki’s visit is a beautifying action, a powdering of the team that will do very little.
“I am not giving him the slightest of chances to convince the EU Commission.”
According to the MEP, the Law and Justice party (PiS) Prime Minister will be welcomed in Brussels as a “messenger” for PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski – and that does not have “good associations” in Europe.
The critical meeting tomorrow comes after a controversial overhaul of the judiciary drove a wedge between the EU and Poland.
Mr Timmermans who only last month launched his bid to strip Poland of its EU voting rights with Article 7, said the block’s intervention was for Poland’s own good.
Now, not even “the most sophisticated of English” will be enough to make up for PiS’ “attack on the judiciary” Mr Lewandowski argued.
He underlined that Mr Morawiecki shares the responsibility for “damaging” the judicial system, adding that Poland’s position in the European Union will remain unchanged.
The MEP said: “This is because he will be talking to people who know the facts.”
But there could be hope to settle the conflict in the long run according to Deputy Foreign Minster Konrad Szymanski.
Mr Szymanski praised the PM for extending a line of dialogue with the EU, which he believes will result in “positive effects”.
He said: “The proposition to meet at the highest rank was very well met. However the controversy around the judicial reform is going on for two years now, so don’t expect any sudden turn of action.
“Poland has a right to reforms. Dialogue will surely result in positive effects, but slowly.”
The Deputy Minster underlined that any new opening for resolution will only appear when all engaged parties prove themselves to be open to the idea.