EU Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Gunther Oettinger yesterday threatened to put Poland on notice for infringing on common European values by passing legislation giving the government control of state media.
The move would start a series of steps that could eventually see Warsaw lose its voting rights in the European Council, the organization that groups the leaders of all 28 EU nations.
In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, Oettinger said: “Many reasons exist for us to activate the ‘rule of law mechanism’ and for us to place Warsaw under monitoring.”
His remarks come after Poland’s conservative government on Wednesday last week took control of state media after new legislation was passed giving it the power to directly appoint the heads of public broadcasters, despite EU concern and condemnation from rights watchdogs.
According to the report, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has placed the issue on the agenda of the commission’s next meeting on Jan. 13.
The newspaper reported that Juncker was seeking to start a procedure in place since 2014 to protect against “systemic dangers to the rule of law.”
Under that procedure, if the country in question does not accept changes to proposals put forward by the commission, the commission can initiate a “procedure over the violation of fundamental European values,” the newspaper said.
Although the procedure has not yet been initiated, the potential sanctions could include “the withdrawal of voting rights” for the country in question, the report said.
Oettinger plans to call for the procedure to be initiated against Poland, the newspaper wrote, citing him as saying: “A director [of public radio or TV] cannot be dismissed without cause. It would be arbitrary.”
Under the new law, senior figures in public radio and TV are to be appointed — and dismissed — by the Polish minister of state treasury, and no longer through contests by the National Broadcasting Council.
The new legislation would also see the current managers and supervisory board members of Poland’s public broadcasters fired with immediate effect.
It has been met with sharp criticism from media rights organizations, including Reporters Without Borders, the European Broadcasting Union and the Association of European Journalists.
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