Jacek Czaputowicz, Polish foreign minister, hit out at the French President for bowing down and abandoning tax reforms after weeks of protests wreaked havoc in Paris and the rest of the country. Last month, Paris forecast a 2019 deficit of 3.2 percent of GDP, which violates the EU-set limit of three percent. The increased spending comes after Mr Macron promised to scrap planned fuel tax increases and increase the minimum wage after weeks of ‘Yellow Vest’ protests against the increased cost of living in rural France.
After the French President’s televised announcement in December, Pierre Moscovici, the EU commissioner responsible for economic affairs, said the breach would be “acceptable” as long as it was “limited, temporary and exceptional”.
In an interview, Mr Czaputowicz said: “France is breaking European law and the European Commission is turning a blind eye.”
He added the changes made by Mr Macron only “testifies to the weakness of the state”.
In December, Mr Czaputowicz branded France “the sick man of Europe” because of the continued protests and a recent spate of terror attacks.
But now he insists his comments were intended as a push to underline France’s need to undertake “difficult reforms”.
In a peace offering, the Pole also said that he “hoped” Mr Macron would visit Poland “soon”.
Last week, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawieck claimed France has received beneficial treatment from Brussels after deploying tens of thousands of police officers to quash the growing ‘Yellow Vest’ movement.
After weeks of violence that have culminated in around 10 deaths, Mr Morawieck, who has been at odds with EU bosses over complaints about Poland’s rule of law violations, claims similar scenes in Warsaw would spark international outrage from Brussels.
He told the Financial Times: “When I look at what is happening in France, I wouldn’t say that France has an issue with the rule of law, but can you imagine if those brutal interventions would happen against demonstrators in Poland how loud the voices would be in Brussels, in Berlin or maybe even Paris?
“Just as every country has their challenges, so we have our challenges with the judiciary that hasn’t been reformed for the last 30 years.”
The comments come as part of a critical exchange of words between Warsaw and Paris over the two countries’ leadership.
In October, Mr Macron accused Poland’s right-wing Law and Justice government of “lying” to their people about the EU.
Poland’s controversial government have been at loggerheads with Brussels over a series of sweeping judicial reforms.
Warsaw ousted almost two dozen Supreme Court judges by lowering the retirement age.
In response, the European Commission took Poland to the European Court of Justice.
The Luxembourg-based court ruled against Warsaw and forced the government to suspend he reform and reinstate the judges.
EU officials welcomed the alterations but warned it doesn’t address the wider concerns about judicial reforms, which also include changes to the constitutional tribunal and the body that appoints Polish judges.