EU ends legal action against Poland over anti-LGBT zones

The European Commission has ended its legal action against Poland over the adoption by local authorities of anti-LGBT resolutions. Polish rights groups have expressed concern over the decision, noting that the majority of such resolutions – many of which declare areas to be free from “LGBT ideology” – remain in place.

The decision to launch action against Poland was taken by the commission in July 2021. It followed the passing of anti-LGBT resolutions by over 100 local authorities – ranging from small villages to entire provinces – in 2019 and 2020.

“Equality and the respect for dignity and human rights are core values of the EU, enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty of the European Union,” said the commission at the time. It pledged to “use all the instruments at its disposal to defend these values”.

But this week it emerged that the commission last month quietly dropped the case. OKO.press, a news website, quoted EU Commissioner Nicolas Schmit saying during a recent visit to Warsaw that the case had been “suspended, but not closed”.

However, after OKO.press questioned the commission directly, it received a response on 14 February confirming that the legal action had been not only suspended but officially closed on 26 January. The commission did not respond to questions as to why it had done so.

Justyna Nakielska from Campaign Against Homophobia (KPH), a leading Polish LGBT rights NGO, told the Rzeczpsopolita daily that they were “surprised” by the decision.

“The Polish government did not respond satisfactorily to the European Commission’s letters under the infringement procedure, and the anti-LGBT zones – although gradually being repealed – are still there,” she noted.

“We demand that the commission use the available means…to effectively demand that all discriminatory resolutions be repealed, especially in the context of the new EU financial perspective for Poland,” added Nakielska.

Jakub Gawron, an activist behind Atlas of Hate, an online map tracking Poland’s anti-LGBT zones, told OKO.press he was “disappointed” with the commission’s decision. “This means it is relinquishing pressure on the government on the issue of anti-LGBT zones,” he said.

According to the Atlas of Hate, around one-third of the anti-LGBT resolutions passed in 2019 and 2020 have since been withdrawn, often as a result of the threat of losing European funds. Others have been annulled by courts.

At the end of last year, the town of Świdnik in eastern Poland became the latest to withdraw its anti-LGBT resolution. It was replaced with one expressing opposition to discrimination, including against sexual minorities. The decision was made amid fears of losing EU money.

Of the 67 resolutions that remain, around half explicitly condemn “LGBT ideology”. The remainder are so-called “Family Charters” that do not mention LGBT specifically but express opposition to same-sex marriage and pledge to “protect children from moral corruption” (language often used as part of anti-LGBT rhetoric).

OKO.press also obtained copies of the Polish government’s correspondence with the European Commission regarding the anti-LGBT resolutions (which have usually been adopted by local authorities under the control of the nationally ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party).

In its communication with Brussels, Warsaw argued that the resolutions express opposition to a system of views – “LGBT ideology” – and not LGBT people themselves, so are therefore not discriminatory.

It also notes that the resolutions do not have any legal power and are therefore just “an element of public debate that neither creates nor affects the law in force”. They therefore “do not affect the application of the principle of non-discrimination”.

That position contradicts the rulings of Polish courts – including the country’s highest administrative court – which have found the resolutions to discriminate against LGBT people.

OKO.press reports, based on unnamed inside sources, that the European Commission dropped its legal proceedings against Poland because new rules mean that spending from the current EU budget, which runs from 2021 to 2027, must comply with the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights.

That document states that “any discrimination based on any ground, such as sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation shall be prohibited”.

That means EU money cannot be distributed or spent by national or local authorities that do not comply with the bloc’s anti-discrimination rules, notes OKO.press.

Main image credit: European Central Bank/Flickr (under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.