“We will exercise our right to protest if we do not reach an agreement on the link between the rule of law and the EU budget,” Mateusz Morawiecki said. He noted that Poland continues to provide all information on the use of the funds, but does not accept the rule of law to be interpreted according to the EU’s vision.
“We have already had ‘good experience’ over the last three years and we will surely exercise our veto if we do not reach an agreement,” Mateusz Morawiecki said in response to another attempt by the European Parliament to link the rule of law to the allocation of EU funds.
The prime minister said it does not mean that Poland would not accept the presence of auditors, if fact, he stated that they want to make all of their expenditures – let it be in euro or zloty – transparent. However, he pointed out that it would not be appropriate to link budgetary expenditure to the different institutions’ or other member states’ interpretation on the rule of law, because everyone has a different opinion on how the Polish state operates, how independent the institutions are and no agreement would be reached on this.
During the German presidency, the European Parliament wants to establish a link between the EU’s budget and their vision on the rule of law, which would empower the Commission to freeze subsidies if a member state is considered not complying the conditions they set. However, the adoption of the regulation requires the consent of both the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.