Polish lawmakers on Wednesday voted to continue work on a judicial reform bill designed to unblock billions in European Union funds, marking a step forward for changes whose chances of becoming law are uncertain due to splits in the ruling camp.
Supporters of the bill say that Poland's financial security hinges on gaining access to 35.4 billion euros ($38 billion) in COVID-19 recovery funds withheld due to a dispute over the rule of law.
However, President Andrzej Duda, a government ally who would have to sign the bill for it to become law, is against the changes in their current form while a junior partner in the ruling coalition remains implaccably opposed to compromises it views as undermining Polish sovereignty.
Critics of the bill in the judiciary and the opposition say it does not solve the core problem of what they say is the politicisation of Poland's judiciary.
Opposition parties said they wanted to keep working on the bill to unlock EU funds but that it required changes.
"We are ready to adopt this bill at this sitting. We have common amendments of the opposition ready," Borys Budka, deputy head of the main opposition party, Civic Platform (PO), was quoted as saying by PAP news agency.
Under the bill, the Supreme Administrative Court would deal with disciplinary cases instead of a contested chamber of the Supreme Court, in a bid to address concerns that the previous system had been used to punish judges critical of the government's judicial reforms.
Judges would also not face disciplinary action for questioning the independence of colleagues appointed by organs that critics say are politicised.
Duda has said that any law that would allow the legitimacy of judges to be called into question is unnacceptable.
The bill will now go to a parliamentary commission, before returning to the lower house for a second reading.
($1 = 0.9310 euros)
(Reporting by Alan Charlish; Editing by Conor Humphries)
