Poland wants Brussels to withdraw its Article 7 procedure against Warsaw, the Polish foreign minister has said after his country moved to modify disputed legal changes that have triggered a row with the EU.

Jacek Czaputowicz was speaking after the country’s ruling conservatives on Thursday signalled they would accommodate some of the EU executive’s recommendations over sweeping changes to the court system in Poland.

Czaputowicz told public Polish Radio 1 on Friday that a new piece of legislation drafted by MPs from Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party was designed to modify contested laws reforming the judiciary in a way that would “respond to the European Commission’s expectations.”

He also said that Poland was seeking a compromise with the European Commission over sweeping judicial reforms.

“We are working for the Commission to withdraw its proposal [over Article 7] and we would not want it to be put to a vote,” he said.

In a similar statement, Czaputowicz told public broadcaster TVP on Thursday evening that he would like to see an end to Warsaw’s dispute with Brussels over judicial changes and that Poland was doing everything to make that happen.

The European Commission in December took the unprecedented step of triggering Article 7 of the EU Treaty against Poland, stepping up pressure on Warsaw over the controversial changes to Poland’s justice system.

"We need to meet [the Commission’s] expectations halfway,” Czaputowicz told TVP.

He also said that the authorities in Warsaw were working to bring about a halt to the Commission’s Article 7 proceedings against Poland.

Earlier on Thursday, Poland’s ruling conservative Law and Justice party came forward with a legislative initiative to modify disputed laws regulating the work of the country's common court system and the Supreme Court.

Under the draft, the justice minister would no longer be able to dismiss court presidents and deputy presidents without consulting judges and the powerful National Council of the Judiciary, PiS MP Marek Ast told reporters.

In a further modification of existing regulations which politicians said was intended to accommodate the European Commission’s recommendations, the retirement age of male and female judges would be set at an equal level of 65 years of age.

And in what appeared to be another step designed to help reach an agreement with Brussels, the country’s ruling conservatives said they were ready to publish three Constitutional Tribunal judgments that the ruling party argues the top court issued in violation of the law in 2016.

(gs/pk)

Source: IAR, PAP,TVP, Polskie Radio</s>WARSAW (Reuters) - Thousands rallied in Poland's largest cities on Sunday against the ruling party's judicial reforms, which the opposition says would kill the judges' independence and undermine democracy.

 Late on Friday the country's parliament, where the Law and Justice (PiS) party has a majority, passed a bill giving parliament a greater say in appointing judges, which critics say violates the constitutional separation of powers.

 The conservative, eurosceptic PiS has also introduced draft legislation in the past week that would replace all Supreme Court judges except those chosen by the justice minister.

 "Shame, shame" chanted protesters gathered in Warsaw under Polish and European Union flags, and calling Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the chairman of PiS and the country's de facto leader, a "dictator".

 PiS says the party has a democratic mandate to make the judiciary more efficient and accountable to the public. Since winning the 2015 election the party has overhauled the constitutional court and given the Justice Ministry control over the prosecutor general's office. 

 Threatening to take Poland to court, the European Union executive has said these measures undermine democratic checks and balances, a charge PiS denies.

 On Sunday opposition leaders urged the protesters to remain in front of the parliament until Tuesday when lawmakers are to debate the Supreme Court bill. Parliamentary opposition leaders vowed they would not allow for the debate to take place.

 The country's fragmented opposition also promised to be more united against PiS. 

 "Today we know that a great fight has begun and we know we must be together, we know we must fight against them together," Grzegorz Schetyna, leader of the largest political grouping, the Civic Platform, told the crowd. 

 Poland's TVP television, controlled by the state, said the protests and calls to block Tuesday's debate were "an attempt to organize a coup against a democratically elected power." 

 In December Poland saw its biggest political stand-off in years when opposition leaders blocked the parliament's plenary hall podium ahead of a budget vote, after objecting to plans by PiS to curb media access to parliament. 

 Protesters on Sunday were cordoned off from the main entrance to the parliament by barricades erected ahead of the demonstrations. 

 The police estimated that some 4.5 thousand people protested in Warsaw, but the Warsaw city hall said the number was above 10,000. Smaller protests took place in Krakow, Katowice and other Polish cities. 

 

 (Refiles to correct error in spelling of 'de facto' in paragraph 4)

 

 (Writing by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz asks the European Commission to halt its use of Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union against the nation in exchange for modifications to controversial proposed judicial reforms.