Poland's ruling party clings on despite blocked EU funds

By Jo Harper

WARSAW (AA) - Poland's ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski is more worried about a breakup of the ruling coalition than not receiving EU funds, according to a report in the German newspaper Tageszeitung (TAZ).

A break up of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party and smaller coalition partner, Zbigniew Ziobro's Solidarna Polska (Solidary Poland), would mean early parliamentary elections, which are set for this fall. Ziobro survived a no-confidence vote in parliament in December.

The EU has blocked funds worth about €35.4 billion ($37.9 billion) under Poland's National Recovery Plan due to concerns that the promised rescinding of Warsaw’s post-2015 reforms to the judiciary do not go far enough to meet democratic standards.

Poland is paying a daily fine of €1 million imposed by the European Commission after the judgment of the EU Court of Justice in the case of the Disciplinary Chamber at the Supreme Court.

"The stakes are high: €35.4 billion. Until now, Kaczynski has always put power before money," wrote the Warsaw correspondent of TAZ, Gabriele Lesser.

"However, instead of quickly implementing almost 280 milestones to gradually apply for €35.4 billion in subsidies and low-interest loans, Poland has so far tried to outsmart the Commission," wrote TAZ.

PiS is reportedly preparing a new law on the Disciplinary Chamber, this time transferring disciplinary cases of judges to the Supreme Administrative Court. "PiS seems to hope that the European Commission will not say 'no' three times in a row," TAZ reported.

The latest IBRiS survey conducted for the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita showed that the gap between PiS, at 29.7%, and the largest opposition group, Civic Coalition (KO), has narrowed to 4.3 percentage points. PiS has been down almost 3% since December.

Weekly magazine Polityka called Ziobro "the most expensive minister in the world" this week.