The European Commission announced on July 28 that it has started an infringement procedure against Poland over provisions in Warsaw's controversial law reorganising the lower courts, which entered into force the same day.

Poland’s populist Law and Justice (PiS) ruling party planned for the law to be an element in a sweeping reform of the country’s judiciary. However, two other bills – effectively giving the party control of the process of judge nominations and over the Supreme Court – were vetoed by President Andrzej Duda.

The law on common courts would give PiS major influence on the Polish judiciary system, although the commission focuses on the law’s provisions establishing different retirement ages for female and male judges.

“This is contrary to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and a directive on gender equality in employment,“ the commission said in a statement.

That said, the commission also raised concerns that “by giving the minister of justice the discretionary power to prolong the mandate of judges who have reached retirement age, as well as to dismiss and appoint court presidents, the independence of Polish courts will be undermined.”

That was the main issue behind protests against PiS’ judiciary reforms that gripped Poland through July 17-23. Following Duda’s veto, the opposition and protestors appeared to have triumphed, but it is not clear what new bills, which Duda said he will prepare, will contain. The PiS leadership has, meanwhile, said it intends to push the reform through despite the president's actions.

The commission appears wary the bills might be put back on the table in Warsaw in a revamped form. The EU executive said it would immediately launch the Article 7 "nuclear option" against Poland should Warsaw return to pushing through the controversial reforms.

The infringement procedure deepens conflict between PiS and the commission, as the latter’s probe into Warsaw’s adherence to the principle of the rule of law is ongoing. The commission started that case in January 2016 after PiS’ first major move to tweak judiciary to its favour – the engineering of the Constitutional Court’s line-up with party loyalists.