The Polish government earlier this year lowered the retirement age of judges from 70 to 65, a move the bloc says aims to appoint favourable replacements and undermines democracy.
“We are preoccupied by the decision taken last week by the Polish president to name new judges to the Supreme Court, replacing those affected by the new retirement age laws,” France’s European Affairs Minister, Nathalie Loiseau, said during a press conference in Luxemburg.
Brussels launched infringement proceedings against Poland on July 2 over the changes introduced by the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), which critics say put the country’s judicial system under government control and are a threat to democracy.
Despite being referred to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over the new rules, Poland lowered the retirement age of judges from 70 to 65, forcing 27 of the court’s 72 judges to leave before the end of their terms.
Poland’s Supreme Court itself has asked the ECJ to rule on whether the early retirement is legal.
“Despite our calls, Poland has not waited for the ECJ’s ruling and has taken actions that will be difficult to change in the future,” Mrs Loiseau, who was also speaking on behalf of her German counterpart, Michael Roth, deplored.
The decision to lower the retirement age constitutes a “serious threat for Poland’s judicial independence,” she continued, warning that Warsaw’s decision to blindly press ahead with the judiciary overhaul would damage its relationship with Brussels.
The EU says the new retirement age is being used to push out unwanted judges and appoint favourable replacements, and has accused the Polish government of violating democratic laws.
France and Germany also urged the EU Commission to press forward with disciplinary proceedings launched against Poland in December 2017 for breaching EU values and the rule of law.
The investigation could potentially lead to measures as serious as stripping Warsaw of its voting rights in the EU, although in practice this is seen as virtually impossible since Poland’s ally Hungary has pledged to veto such punishment.
“With the European elections just a few months away, it is our responsibility to reaffirm that the respect for the bloc’s fundamental values, including the rule of law, is at the heart of the European project,” Mrs Loiseau added.
Next May’s European Parliament elections are already being billed as a battle between progressive, pro-EU reformists and populist, far-right nationalists determined to decentralise power away from Brussels and back into the hands of national governments.