Europe's local and regional politicians rejected any political ex-post conditionality, which would mean that local and regional authorities in Poland could see their funding suspended as a result of procedure triggered by the European Commission against Poland. The ECR Group's amendment, which stated that Cohesion Policy must not be subject to any conditionalities at European level that cannot be influenced by local and regional authorities, was successfully adopted as part of the final text of the resolution.

The key point in the resolution, about which the ECR felt particularly strongly, was that the EU must not introduce political ex-post conditionality suspending EU funding for cities and regions. "Such a suspension would not be proportionate to the aims of the Treaty - it would not solve anything and on the contrary, would worsen the divide between the richest and poorest parts of Europe", commented ECR Group President Rob Jonkman (Alderman and Member of Executive Council in Opsterland).

The ECR Group succeeded in strengthening the provision calling for rejection of any political ex-post conditionality. It was also the driving force behind rejecting the amendment from the  Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), which called on the European Commission to "examine all possible measures, political and economic" in the dispute between the Commission and Poland.

Leader of the Polish delegation in the ECR Group Adam Banaszak (Deputy Chairman of Kujawsko-Pomorskie Regional Assembly) added that the CoR is not the right place to comment on judiciary reforms. "Our role is to comment on local and regional matters, not national policies. Recent local government reform in Poland has resulted in many positive changes. It will increase transparency of elections, support active citizenship and increase the role of councillors, including those from the opposition. Local government, not national reforms, should be the focus of our discussions."

Overall, the resolution was supported by 77 Members with 39 votes against and 26 abstentions. All ECR Group Members voted against it, reiterating that the Committee of the Regions is not the institution where we should be discussing the rule of law and central government reforms in this area.

Background: The European Union has warned that the judicial reforms in Poland threaten the rule of law and has launched disciplinary measures. Poland's government has said that the new laws are needed to curb corruption and to form its first independent judiciary since the post-war communist era.