Polish Parliament greenlights judicial reform to help access EU funds

Warsaw, Feb 9 The Polish Parliament has given the final approval to a key judicial reform bill intended to unblock billions of euros of European Union (EU) funds withheld due to a dispute over the country's rule of law.

The Sejm or Lower House of Parliament, passed the bill in a 233 to 207 vote with 12 abstentions on Wednesday, reports Xinhua news agency.

The legislation assumes that the Supreme Administrative Court would decide disciplinary and immunity cases of judges instead of the Supreme Court.

It will then head to President Andrzej Duda's desk.

Judicial reform is one of the "milestones" set by the European Commission that Poland needs to accomplish before it receives the EU's post-pandemic recovery fund.

Due to a rule-of-law dispute, the European Commission has blocked Poland's access to 23.9 billion euros in grants and 11.5 billion euros in cheap loans, despite approving Poland's outline on the spending.

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