The EU’s elites sometimes overreact when politicians in member states make seemingly unenlightened decisions. The president of European Parliament, Martin Schulz, compared the recent developments in Poland to a “coup d’état.” The European Commission, in turn, is activating its “rule of law mechanism,” increasing scrutiny of recent policy changes in the country.
This time around, the concerns are not overblown. Even Leszek Balcerowicz, the eminent Polish economist and reformer, called the changes “the greatest test of supporters of freedom and rule of law in Poland since 1989.” So what exactly is happening?
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda speaks during his announcement at Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland December 28, 2015. The president signed into law an amendment to how its constitutional court makes rulings. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel.
Media law
Both the European Commission and Mr. Schulz’s “coup d’état” remark referred to Poland’s new media law, approved by the Polish Sejm. The law changes the status of Poland’s public broadcasters to “national cultural institutions” – like the National Museum or the National Ballet – placing them under direct control of the government. At the present time, public media are instead overseen by the National Broadcasting Council, elected by the Sejm for six years, with members who cannot be otherwise politically active.
Like other European countries, Poland has a rich landscape of public-service broadcasters, including nine television channels and five national radio channels, which account for large segments of the respective media markets. We might or we might not like the idea of public broadcasting, but to the extent to which it does exist, there is a case for insulating it from political pressures, instead of turning it into an arm of government. The new media law will do the opposite, making Polish public broadcasting look less like NPR or BBC and more like government media in countries to the east of Poland.
The Constitutional Court
Shortly before the October election, the Sejm elected five new Constitutional Court judges. After the elections, the Law and Justice Party (PiS) together with President Andrzej Duda sought to reverse those appointments, notwithstanding a ruling by the Constitutional Court that confirmed that the October election of new judges was valid. Shortly before Christmas, the Sejm passed an amendment to the existing law on the Constitutional Court, which would require a two-thirds majority (instead of a simple majority) and the presence of at least 13 (instead of nine) of the 15 judges for a decision, as well as a mandatory latency period before it delivers a verdict on a case.
As a result, the amendment restrains the ability of the Court to effectively challenge the decisions taken by the government. That might appear to be a good thing for PiS supporters; for those who care about limited government, not so much.
Economic policy
Some refer to the new Polish government as “right-wing” or “conservative.” When it comes to economic policy, the PiS is anything but: consider the introduction of a special annual tax imposed on bank assets, exempting government bonds, of course. There is also the Hungary-inspired plan to forcibly convert a part of the mortgages denominated in Swiss francs into zlotys, forcing an unspecified amount of losses on the financial industry. PiS also promised to reverse the recent increase in retirement age, as well as a range of new social benefits, raising concerns about the fiscal trajectory that the country is on.
Miscellaneous
A multitude of other events are raising eyebrows, too. In December, military police raided the NATO-affiliated “Counter- Intelligence Centre of Excellence” in Warsaw, run jointly by Poland and Slovakia. The defense ministry justified the raid, which took place after midnight, by claiming that “it was difficult to determine whether there are actually competent people.” And, on top of everything, the former head of the Poland Central Anti-Corruption Bureau, Mariusz Kamiński, who had been sentenced in March 2015 to three years in prison for illegal wiretapping, was granted a presidential pardon by President Duda and appointed as the new coordinator for secret services in the PiS government.
Overall, even if the PiS’ first two months in office are not a “coup d’état,” they are hardly encouraging. Until recently, Viktor Orbán’s Hungary was the pariah of Central and Eastern Europe. Today, with Slovakia headed for a parliamentary election that might very well give a constitutional majority to its own strongman, Robert Fico, “illiberal democracy” is becoming the norm on the EU’s Eastern flank.
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