title: Factbox: EU launches action against Poland over courts reform
text: WARSAW (Reuters) - Below are details of the European Commission s decision to launch the Article 7 procedure against Poland on Wednesday over judicial reforms that Brussels says undermine Polish courts  independence. The procedure could lead to a suspension of Poland s voting rights in the EU if approved by all over EU members except Poland. Hungary has said it would veto any sanctions on Poland. First Vice President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, said at a news conference on Wednesday that thirteen laws passed in Poland over the last two years  put at serious risk the independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers in Poland .  The common pattern of all these legislative changes is that the executive or legislative powers are now set up in such a way that the ruling majority can systematically, politically interfere with the composition, the powers, the administration and the functioning of these authorities, thereby rendering the independence of the judiciary completely moot,  Timmermans said. He said that laws passed by Poland s parliament mean that: Almost 40 percent of current Supreme Court judges will be forced into compulsory retirement Poland s president will have discretionary power to decide if and for how long to prolong their mandates New Supreme Court judges will be appointed by the president on the recommendation of the newly composed National Council for the Judiciary (NCJ), which is dominated by political appointees of the ruling party. This politicized Supreme Court will decide directly about the validity of election results  A number of judges in ordinary courts are forced to retire following a decrease of the retirement age of judges. Their mandates can be prolonged at the discretion of the Minister of the justice minister who is also the chief prosecutor Justice minister has discretionary power to appoint and dismiss all presidents of courts   without concrete criteria, no obligation to state reasons and no judicial review Mandates of members of NCJ will be prematurely terminated and members will be reappointed by Polish parliament instead of by other judges as required by European standards NCJ plays key role throughout the career of judges when it comes to their appointments, their promotions, to where they are assigned to in the country and the courts, to disciplinary proceedings Timmermans said on Wednesday the European Commission asks Poland to: Restore the independence and legitimacy of the Constitutional Tribunal by ensuring that its judges, its President and its Vice-President are lawfully elected and appointed Publish and implement fully the three 2016 verdicts of the Constitutional Tribunal Amend the law on the Supreme Court so as to not apply a lowered retirement age to the current Supreme Court judges, and remove the discretionary powers of the President of Poland and remove the extraordinary appeal procedure Amend the law on the ordinary courts so as to remove the new retirement regime for judges of ordinary courts Amend the law on the National Council for the Judiciary so as to ensure that the mandate of members of the Council is not terminated and the members are elected by other judges The Commission said that should the Polish authorities implement the recommended actions in the coming three months the Commission stands ready to reconsider its decision to move forward with the Article 7 procedure. 