WARSAW, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Friday that he has decided to send a key bill reforming the disciplinary regime for judges to the Constitutional Tribunal for an evaluation of its constitutionality before signing it into law.
The bill is seen as a key part of the "milestones" set by the European Commission, without which the European Union will not release 23.9 billion euros (25.6 billion U.S. dollars) in grants and 11.5 billion euros in cheap loans from its pandemic recovery fund to Poland, as part of the rule-of-law disputes between Warsaw and Brussels.
On Jan. 13, the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament, passed an amendment to the law on the Supreme Court. On Jan. 31 the Senate passed it by returning it to the Sejm with 14 amendments. The Sejm rejected all of the Senate's amendments this week and sent it to the president for signing.
The president described his decision in a broadcast statement as a "preventative measure," and assured that this procedure would not delay the disbursement of the EU funds.
"I have not decided to veto the amendment to the law on the Supreme Court, which was passed by the Polish parliament in recent days," Duda said.
"This compromise is necessary both for Poland and the European Union," he added, "But speaking honestly, that agreement raises serious controversies of a constitutional nature." (1 euro = 1.07 U.S. dollar) ■
