Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) The Polish parliament has passed new regulations to fulfill European Commission’s demands and regain access to EU recovery funds.
The EC previously blocked Poland’s access to the country’s coronavirus crisis recovery funds worth some 35.4 billion euro over a dispute on the rule of law, according to a Reuters report on Wednesday.
According to newly passed rules, Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court would process disciplinary cases of judges, which was previously done by the judicial disciplinary chamber which the EC says sanctioned judges critical of the government.
The upper house of the parliament proposed amendments to the law, which the lower house rejected. Polish President Andrzej Duda still needs to sign the bill into law, veto it or send it for review to the Constitutional Tribunal.
Duda previously announced he would not approve any law that would open doors to questioning the legitimacy of judges.
European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders commented on Poland’s move and announced the EC would “continue to follow the next steps in the legislative process.”
Poland dissolved the disciplinary chamber in July last year in order to meet EC’s demands and regain access to EU funds for recovery from the coronavirus crisis.
New wind farm rules
Besides the judicial reform, the lower house of parliament passed new rules for the development of wind farms with the aim of removing obstacles to green investments, which the EC also wants in exchange for access to recovery funds.
Last year, the government proposed to lower the minimum required distance of wind turbines from residential buildings, which was set at 10 times the height of the turbine since 2016.
According to representatives of investors, this limitation practically blocked investments in wind farms.
In the bill passed on Wednesday, the lower house upped the minimum distance to 700 meters, stressing the importance of protecting citizens from noise pollution, which investors say will deter new projects.
The Polish Wind Energy Association (PWEA) lobby group of approximately 150 investors warned that new rules will slash investments in wind energy by 60% to 70%. The bill will be sent to the upper house as part of the legislative process.
