The European Commission (EU) has said, it is launching a legal action against Poland over plans to give politicians more power to sack and appoint judges.<br/><br/>The European Commission's Vice-President, Frans Timmermans said Poland would be stripped of its EU voting rights if it went ahead with proposals to force all Supreme Court judges into retirement. He said the reforms would have a very significant negative impact on the independence of the Polish judiciary.<br/><br/>Mr Timmermans also said the Commission would sue Poland for breaking EU rules on judicial independence and on gender discrimination.<br/><br/><br/>Poland's Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said Warsaw will not tolerate any blackmail from EU officials and vowed to press on with the reforms.<br/><br/>Earlier, Poland's senate had approved a controversial reform of the Supreme Court. However, President Andrzej Duda vetoed it.