The European Union's top court has halved the daily fine imposed on Poland in a dispute over judicial reforms to 500,000 euros, it said on Friday, adding that Warsaw had largely implemented the reforms it required.
Poland's nationalist government is embroiled in a long-running row with Brussels over judicial reforms that critics say undermine the independence of the courts. The dispute has blocked billions of euros in EU funds to Warsaw and also triggered the fines.
In 2021 the EU's top court ruled that Poland's system for disciplining judges was incompatible with the bloc's laws and then imposed a daily fine of 1 million euros ($1.10 million) for Warsaw's failure to implement its ruling that the disciplinary chamber for judges be dissolved.
Poland has now dissolved the chamber and replaced it with a new body, although critics say the core problem of the politicisation of the judiciary remains unsolved.
"The Vice-President (of the Court of Justice of the European Union) considered that the measures introduced by Poland... may, to a large extent, ensure the implementation of the interim measures indicated in the decision of July 14, 2021," the court said in a statement.
The court noted the disciplinary chamber had been disbanded and said measures had been taken to strengthen the legal rights of judges affected by its rulings.
However Laurent Pech, dean of the UCD Sutherland School of Law in Dublin, and a vocal critic of Poland's judiciary reforms, said the EU court was "seemingly becoming less serious about respect for the rule of law and ensuring compliance with its own orders/case law... (by) accepting cosmetic measures".
A Polish government spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
A spokesperson for the EU said the reduced daily fine was coming into effect as of Friday.
($1 = 0.9120 euros)
(Reporting by Alan Charlish and Pawel Florkiewicz, additional reporting by Marine Strauss in BrusselsEditing by Frances Kerry)
