Work is being done behind the scenes in Brussels and Warsaw to unblock the billions from the EU recovery fund. The arch-enemy of the Polish government plays a key role here: former Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Never waste a good crisis: Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and the national authoritarian government of Poland are both inspired by the maxim of not letting any crisis go unused in order to get closer to other goals. Because the Russian attack on Ukraine and the resulting enormous wave of refugees, which within four weeks to Tuesday has already prompted almost 2.35 million Ukrainians to flee to Poland, serves both in Brussels and in Warsaw, gently and without too much to draw public attention to one of the EU’s most uncomfortable political problems: the blocked billions that Poland is entitled to from the EU recovery fund, but which the Commission is not releasing because of the political elimination of the judiciary by the PiS-led government.
Officially, nothing significant has changed since von der Leyen’s speech to the European Parliament on October 19 last year. At the time, she made three conditions to the Polish government that were essential for the Commission’s approval of the payment of the money. Firstly: Dissolution of the disciplinary tribunal for Polish judges, which according to several judgments of the Court of Justice of the EU is in breach of contract law. Second, reinstatement of the numerous judges who have been removed from office by this tribunal. Thirdly, fundamental changes in the disciplinary system for Polish judges, so that they are no longer subject to political pressure from the government. It is about 58.1 billion euros from the EU budget, of which 23.9 billion euros are direct grants and 34.2 billion euros are loans at the lowest interest rate.