Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans | Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images EU unpersuaded by Poland’s defense at rule-of-law hearing After extraordinary meeting, national ministers and Commission officials said efforts to sanction Warsaw would continue.

EU officials said efforts to sanction Poland over alleged rule-of-law violations would continue, after Warsaw's attempt to defend itself at an extraordinary disciplinary hearing on Tuesday failed to persuade ministers and European Commission officials.

"Let me be very clear: The systemic threat for the rule-of-law persists," Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans said at a news conference following the hearing before the General Affairs Council in Luxembourg.

"So for us to be able to say that it no longer persists, we will need some more steps from the Polish side," Timmermans said. "We have not had any indications of that today. But who knows — there might be indications in the near future. We remain open for that dialogue."

The hearing against Poland was an extraordinary step, in an already extraordinary effort launched by the Commission in December to invoke disciplinary measures under Article 7 of the EU treaties, which theoretically could lead to the suspension of Poland's voting rights in the European Council.

Such a drastic punishment would require the unanimity of the other 27 EU countries, and Hungary, an ally of Warsaw, has pledged to block such a move. Still, the Commission and the Council have pushed ahead with the process in an effort to maintain pressure on the Polish government over changes to its judiciary system that Brussels views as a threat to rule of law.

The EU's most pressing concern is the law on the Supreme Court, which is set to go into force on July 3.

“Today's discussion between #EU member states was very factual. We have exhausted our arguments regarding the reforms of the Polish judiciary,” said Poland’s secretary of state for European Affairs, Konrad Szymański, in a tweet from the ministry. “We hope that the meeting will bring us closer to ending the dispute about #RuleOfLaw.”

Poland's governing Law and Justice Party (PiS) has insisted that it is acting within its sovereign rights and in accordance with Poland's constitution in enacting the changes, and it reiterated this argument on Tuesday in a lengthy presentation. Szymański led the Polish delegation to the hearing, and spoke for more than an hour in Warsaw’s defense.

Warsaw did not announce any retreat or intention to change or rescind the controversial reforms, which include empowering the Polish government to remove up to 40 percent of the Supreme Court’s judges and granting the country's justice minister new powers to discipline judges.

The EU's most pressing concern is the law on the Supreme Court, which is set to go into force on July 3.

"These reforms pose a serious threat to the independence of the judiciary in Poland" — Nathalie Loiseau, French EU affairs minister

Other EU countries voiced mounting exasperation over Warsaw's refusal to back down.

"We have already discussed four times the situation of Poland’s rule of law within these walls, but the dialogue initiated since December between the Commission and Poland has not allowed any substantial progress in regard to the concerns over judicial reforms," the French EU affairs minister, Nathalie Loiseau, said at the hearing, according to an EU diplomat.

"These reforms pose a serious threat to the independence of the judiciary in Poland," Loiseau continued. "France and Germany are strongly concerned by the current situation, which has consequences for the whole of the EU, particularly when it comes to cooperation on justice and internal affairs and the functioning of the single market."

"Consequently, it is justified that we pursue the procedure of Article 7, paragraph 1," Loiseau added.

Timmermans, who has led the Commission's enforcement effort against Poland, as well as its negotiations with Warsaw, appeared at the news conference with Ekaterina Zakharieva, the foreign minister of Bulgaria, which will hand over the EU's rotating presidency to Austria on July 1.

Zakharieva said the next steps in the disciplinary process would be decided by Vienna, but she said there was a consensus among EU ministers to continue the disciplinary procedures at the next session of the General Affairs Council.

Timmermans said he still hoped for a compromise. "We do not close the door on the Polish government or anybody else," he said.