On the eve of the summit between the European Union (EU) and the African Union, scheduled for Thursday 17 and Friday 18 February, Warsaw is threatening not to associate itself with the conclusions which will be published in the wake of the meeting. In doing so, the government of Mateusz Morawiecki is sending a clear message to its partners: as long as Poland is deprived of the European recovery plan funds to which it is entitled (23.9 billion euros in subsidies and 12.1 billion euros in loans), it will not be cooperative.
“By the start of the summit, Poland can still change its mind. But if she doesn’t, so be it. We can always write in the conclusions that a Member State, for reasons that are not related to the substance of the text, does not associate itself with it”, relativizes a diplomat. In this case, it is a political statement, not a legislative act, and Polish reluctance is, for the time being, only a manifestation of bad humor.
Certainly. But Warsaw has been threatening to block the community institutions for several months by obstructing them. Most often, Budapest, which also did not touch the first of the 7.2 billion euros in subsidies that the Commission has made available to it to deal with the crisis due to Covid-19, is also part of it.
Thereby, in December 2021, the two countries made it known that the Commission’s directive for minimum taxation of large companies did not suit them, despite having signed the agreement reached within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development from which this bill arises. On March 15, the date on which European finance ministers are due to meet on the subject, “we can measure their determination”launches a diplomat.
“We can make the debates more complicated”
Another example, during the European Council of December 16, 2021, Warsaw and Budapest stepped up to the plate on topics related to rising energy prices and ecological transition, while the Twenty-Seven seek to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050. Faced with their joint offensive and in order to avoid deadlock, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, finally decided not to mention these subjects in the conclusions published at the end of the summit.
“Poland and Hungary say to their counterparts: “We are members of the Council, we can make the debates more complicated” », says a diplomat. They thus hope to influence the position of the Commission which is demanding from them – in vain for the moment – reforms to advance the rule of law, prior to any payment under the European recovery plan. In Budapest, Brussels asks to fight against corruption that has become endemic and in Warsaw to ensure the independence of justice today in the pay of power.
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