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Betty MacDonald, the author of The Egg and I and the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle Series is beloved all over the world. Don't miss Wolfgang Hampel's Betty MacDonald biography and his very witty interviews on CD and DVD!
Monday, December 18, 2017
Polish Prime Minister and European Commission
December 14, 2017 / 2:57 PM / 3 days ago
Poland's new PM sees punishment from Brussels coming
BRUSSELS
(Reuters) - Poland’s new prime minister said on Thursday he expected
the European Commission to launch an unprecedented punishment procedure
against Warsaw next week after months of wrangling over the rule of law.
Newly
appointed Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki reacts after
receiving his nomination from President Andrzej Duda (not pictured)
during a government swearing-in ceremony in Warsaw, Poland, December 11,
2017. Agencja Gazeta/Slawomir Kaminski via REUTERS
Several
thousand people gathered in Poland’s largest towns on Thursday evening
to protest against a judiciary system overhaul, while the upper chamber
of parliament discussed the proposed legislation.
Sponsored
Mateusz
Morawiecki, who took over as Poland’s premier this week, has defended
the judicial changes pushed over two years by his predecessor from the
same Law and Justice (PiS) party, saying they were necessary to heal the
courts. Western European Union peers, the bloc’s executive
Commission, opposition at home and democracy advocates say the reforms
undermine court independence by putting them under more direct
government control. Under the legislation, parliament would have
a virtual free hand in choosing members of the National Judiciary
Council (KRS), a body that decides judicial appointments and promotions -
a right earlier reserved chiefly for the judges themselves. A
second bill envisages lowering the mandatory retirement age for Supreme
Court judges to 65 years from 70, which would force a significant part
of them to leave. This, as well as the eurosceptic, nationalist
PiS’s changes to the state media, have prompted the Commission to
threaten for many months to launch the so-called Article 7 against
Warsaw.
PiS
faced renewed accusations that it was muzzling free media after
Poland’s media regulator slapped a $415,000 fine on a leading,
U.S.-owned news broadcaster TVN24 over its coverage of opposition
protests in parliament last year. Morawiecki rejected the view
that the penalty amounted to an assault on the freedom of media in
Poland, saying the country of 38 million people enjoyed full media
pluralism. He expected TVN to challenge the move in courts which would
make the final call. PiS has also locked horns with the EU over
large-scale logging in the unique Bialowieza forest, which Warsaw says
is necessary to keep the woods healthy but Brussels and environmental
groups say violate wildlife protection laws. Bitter feuds over
migration - which Morawiecki on Thursday called a political “hot potato”
- have added to the growing isolation of the bloc’s largest
ex-communist country since PiS won elections in late 2015.
TENSIONS
Article
7 would see Poland’s government denounced as undemocratic and could
lead to the suspension of Warsaw’s voting rights in the EU. The latter,
however, is unlikely as it would require the unanimous backing of all
the other EU states, something PiS ally Hungary has vowed to block. But Morawiecki, speaking ahead of his first summit of EU leaders in Brussels, seemed to accept that the blow was coming. “If
a process has started and, as far as I understand, the decision has
already been made that next Wednesday the European Commission plans to
start (the procedure), then it will most likely be triggered,” he told
reporters. “From the start of such an unfair procedure for us, until it ends, we will certainly talk to our partners.” A
senior EU official said the Commission’s head, Jean-Claude Juncker
would still seek to dissuade Warsaw from going ahead with the two
judiciary laws, which were passed by Poland’s lower chamber of
parliament. They must still go through the PiS-dominated upper house and be signed by the PiS-allied president to take effect. “If
the court changes go through then we will trigger Article 7,” the
senior official said. “If the changes are postponed until January, then
we will see.” Morawiecki stuck to his guns over the courts and
Poland’s refusal to host some of the refugees who reach the bloc. He
said Poland would respect the final ruling of the bloc’s top court on
the Bialowieza forest. So far, Warsaw has continued the logging despite
an interim order by the court to stop immediately. Morawiecki
added he would seek to convince France to soften its stance on a reform
of the bloc’s labor laws. President Emmanuel Macron wants them tightened
because he sees them as giving too much of a competitive edge to
cheaper labor from the poorer eastern Europe at the expense of France’s
own workers.
Additional
reporting Robin Emmott in Brussels, Anna Koper in Warsaw; Writing by
Jan Strupczewski and Gabriela Baczynska, Editing by Richard Balmforth
Betty MacDonald Fan Club, founded by Wolfgang Hampel, has members in 40 countries.
Wolfgang Hampel, author of Betty MacDonald biography interviewed Betty MacDonald's family and friends. His Interviews have been published on CD and DVD by Betty MacDonald Fan Club. If you are interested in the Betty MacDonald Biography or the Betty MacDonald Interviews send us a mail, please.
Several original Interviews with Betty MacDonald are available.
We are also organizing international Betty MacDonald Fan Club Events for example, Betty MacDonald Fan Club Eurovision Song Contest Meetings in Oslo and Düsseldorf, Royal Wedding Betty MacDonald Fan Club Event in Stockholm and Betty MacDonald Fan Club Fifa Worldcup Conferences in South Africa and Germany.
Betty MacDonald Fan Club Honour Members are Monica Sone, author of Nisei Daughter and described as Kimi in Betty MacDonald's The Plague and I, Betty MacDonald's nephew, artist and writer Darsie Beck, Betty MacDonald fans and beloved authors and artists Gwen Grant, Letizia Mancino, Perry Woodfin, Traci Tyne Hilton, Tatjana Geßler, music producer Bernd Kunze, musician Thomas Bödigheimer, translater Mary Holmes and Mr. Tigerli.
