Civil Coalition has a fresh way to limit Poles' right to criticism of the EU. The organization has just drawn up a bill to defend the European Union's flag. In line with the proposal, a number of sanctions would be threatened for violating the seriousness of the EU symbols, ranging from fines to PLN 5 000 to imprisonment for more serious acts, specified as destroying or removing the flag from a public place. The provisions have already been consulted in the Chancellery of the president of the Council of Ministers and are being considered by the Minister supervising the implementation of government policy.
Tusk wants to punish for insulting the EU flag. The draft law has the working name ‘On the symbols of the European Union and their protection’. According to his assumptions, it is not about the equation of the EU flag with the State flag of Poland, but about the elimination of the legal gap, which, as its authors say, entitles to unpunished attack of this symbol today. In the justification there are references to public incidents of years ago, including to the action of Grzegorz Braun, who in the past smoked the EU flag, as well as to offensive statements about the flag in the media space.
In practice, the task provides for 2 main types of infringements: misuse of EU symbols (e.g. for commercial purposes or in breach of their "seriousness"), sanctioned with fines of up to PLN 5 000 or reprimand, and deliberate obstruction of display of symbols during the ceremony. In this case, the fine is to be up to PLN 2 000.
If the legislator decides to punish for the public insult or demolition of the EU flag, specified actions could already, in accordance with the draft, be treated as a criminal offence, threatened even with a year of imprisonment.
At first glance, the proposal seems to be an effort to kind out issues that are not clearly regulated in Polish criminal law today. In the light of the laws in force, the Polish state flag is subject to legal protection – its insult or demolition is simply a criminal offence punished even up to a year in prison. However, the symbols of global organisations, specified as the EU flag, do not have the same position in Polish law, which in practice means that present specified acts are without real consequences.
However, the problem begins where the bill tries to introduce Polish protection of the symbol, which has a political dimension, but has no legal personality of the state. The EU is an global organisation, not a state – it is simply a fact that the task itself partially admits, explaining the request for a separate law precisely in the absence of EU legal personality.
Such a solution raises serious constitutional and liberal doubts. erstwhile prison sentences are to be applied for gestures or statements to a political symbol, the question arises whether there is simply a disproportionate regulation on freedom of speech and political expression. The EU flag is the subject of debate, criticism and protest – which in itself is part of a democratic public debate. Limiting freedom of expression under the threat of criminal punishment can easy become a political tool alternatively than a neutral instrument for the protection of legal order.
The fact that Tusk's squad wants to introduce specified a law does not happen in a political vacuum. Firstly, the task reaches out to criminal mechanisms in a sphere that historically was an area of public debate and freedom of expression. The introduction of prison punishment for comparatively symbolic behaviour can be seen as an exaggerated "suspension of political symbols" alternatively than a real legal need.
Secondly, the fact that the task was targeted for consultation in government structures – under Prime Minister Donald Tusk – raises the question of the direction of government policy towards identity issues and civilian liberties. Although bureaucrats may argue that this is about the coherence of the law, the introduction of criminal sanctions for gestures against political flags is like solutions more characteristic of authoritarian regimes than liberal democracy.
The Citizens' Coalition could choose another ways to address the problem – specified as social education, administrative standards or code restrictions on public places. Meanwhile, the prison conviction for the treatment of the EU symbol points to excessive reliance on repressive state apparatus in the area of civilian attitudes, which should rise serious doubts in the public debate.
The draft EU Symbol Protection Act, although formally filling the legal gap, transcends the limits of reasonable state intervention in the sphere of political life and freedom of expression. punishment of fines or imprisonment for actions against the EU flag appears to be another example of "legislative overzealousness", which may have far-reaching consequences for public debate and civilian rights in Poland. In a average country, dialog and criticism – including against abroad symbols – are part of a freedom that the law should protect, not punish.
In practice, the fresh thought of KO is another, though tiny step towards building totalitarianism and universal censorship in Poland.
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