The European Commission has rejected funding applications from six Polish towns because of “LGBT ideology free zones” adopted by their authorities.
The move represents the first such decisive step with financial consequences for Poland in an ongoing conflict over the issue of LGBT discrimination between the EU and Polish local authorities.
On Tuesday, the European Commission approved a list of 127 projects submitted to the “Town Twinning” programme. Only seven Polish towns and organisations received the funding, reports Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
European Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli explained on Twitter that the applications of six other Polish towns were rejected due to their adoption of “LGBT ideology free zones”. Dalli also observed that all member states are required to adhere to the common values of the EU.
EU values and fundamental rights must be respected by Member States and state authorities.
This is why 6 town twinning applications invilving Polish authorities that adopted 'LGBTI free zones' or 'family rights' resolutions were rejected.#LGBTI #UnionOfEquality
— Helena Dalli (@helenadalli) July 28, 2020
The total budget of the “Town Twinning” programme amounts to 2,324,327 euro. As part of the project, two towns applying together are eligible for grants of up to 25,000 euro, while a network of towns is eligible for up to 150,000 euro.
The seven successful Polish applicants included: Września (€5,000), Sopot (€7,500), Opole (€12,000), Zator (€10,000), and Dzierzkowice (€7,500).
Věra Jourová, the European Commission’s vice-president for values and transparency, has repeatedly stressed that the EU “cannot finance projects in cities that violate core values”. The European Parliament’s committee on women’s rights and gender equality has urged the Commission to freeze funds for regions in which they might be used in a discriminatory way.
The latest decision of the European Commission represents a further development in an ongoing conflict with Polish local authorities. In early June, the Commission wrote to the heads of five Polish administrative provinces requesting an explanation for resolutions declaring the provinces “free from LGBT ideology” or adopting “Charters of Family Rights”.
The Commission wanted to ascertain whether such resolutions were discriminatory actions. It urged the governors of the five provinces – Lublin, Łódź, Małopolska, Podkarpackie, and Świętokrzyskie – to investigate and respond.
In mid-June, after complaints filed by Poland’s commissioner for human rights Adam Bodnar, Polish courts annulled two of the resolutions declaring “zones free from LGBT ideology”. Judges found that they violated the Polish constitution.
“Ideology is always associated with people; the dictionary definition states that it is a system of ideas professed by individuals or groups of people,” said one of the judges, Krzysztof Wujek, in his justification. He went on to say that declaring “a zone free from” LGBT ideology “de facto refers to people from this LGBT group. Saying that it is an ideology, not people, is turning a blind eye to reality.”
Last year, the European Parliament also took a strong stand against the Polish “zones”. MEPs voted in favour of a resolution condemning the discrimination of LGBT people in Poland and urging the Polish government to revoke the discriminatory declarations.
In the most recent annual “Rainbow Map”, a ranking produced by ILGA-Europe, a Brussels-based NGO that advocates for the rights of LGBT people, Poland was ranked as the EU’s worst offender, taking into account both the legal situation as well as the “social climate”. In last year’s index, Poland was ranked second-worst, but it has since fallen to last place.
Main image credit: Agencja Gazeta/Roman Bosiacki
Agnieszka Wądołowska is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She has previously worked for Gazeta.pl and Tokfm.pl and contributed to Gazeta Wyborcza, Wysokie Obcasy, Duży Format, Midrasz and Kultura Liberalna
