The EU’s top court has halved a daily fine it imposed against Poland over controversial judicial reforms in 2021, which the Polish government appealed.
The fine has been reduced from €1 million per day to €500,000, the Court of Justice of the EU vice president said in a statement on Friday.
In October 2021, the top court had started fining Poland €1 million per day for ignoring a ruling ordering it to suspend its judicial reforms and restore the independence of judges.
The Polish authorities had asked the court to suspend the fine last November, arguing it had implemented reforms to comply with the previous ruling.
In the Friday statement, the court’s Vice President Lars Bay Larsen said the “measures adopted by Poland are not sufficient to ensure the execution of all the provisional measures” the court had requested.
Although Bay Larsen recognized that Poland did implement some changes, others — like a Polish Supreme Court decision allowing for judges to be prosecuted or arrested — have yet to be suspended, he wrote.
In light of partial reforms, the vice-president saw fit to cut the fee in half.
At a press briefing Friday, the European Commission’s spokesperson for rule of law issues, Christian Wigand, declined to specify the total amount paid by Poland, but confirmed that fines have been collected since November 3, 2021.
If paid in full, that would put the total figure paid by Poland at more than €500 million.
Gregorio Sorgi contributed reporting.
