Poolse ministers presenteren plannen voorzitterschap in commissies Europarlement (en)

The priorities of Poland's Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers are being presented to European Parliament committees by Polish ministers this week. This compilation will be updated daily after each committee meeting.

Internal market

Mutual recognition of professional qualifications across borders, roaming prices and boosting consumer confidence in e-commerce, will be the presidency's key priorities, Deputy Prime Minister Waldemar Pawlak told Internal Market Committee MEPs on 12 July. The Single Market is "a driver for economic growth" and thus an important tool to "tackle the crisis" and "foster unity", he said, thanking the committee for its inputs to the Single Market Act. Other priorities include reforming the standardisation system, public procurement and customs enforcement of intellectual property rights.

In the chair: Malcolm Harbour i (ECR, UK)

Regional policy

The presidency will push for a swift start to negotiations in the Council and Parliament on the 2014-2020 planning period, as soon as the Commission tables the structural funds regulatory package, at the end of September, Regional Development Minister Elzbieta Bienkowska told the Regional Development Committee on 12 July. She hoped a deal would be struck at the December General Affairs Council, even though issues such as "transitional regions" and the new "connectivity funding facility" remain controversial. The presidency will also review the macro-regional Strategy for the Baltic Sea, focus on practical cross-border co-operation tools and assess the urban agenda's potential to benefit both cities and surrounding rural areas, at an informal meeting of ministers in in Poznan.

In the chair: Danuta Hübner i (EPP, PL)

Tourism

The presidency will build on the "consolidated framework" proposed by the Commission last year and measures set out an own-initiative report to be voted in Parliament at the end of September, Under-Secretary of State for Sport and Tourism Katarzyna Sobierajska told Transport and Tourism Committee MEPs on 12 July. Ms Sobierajska stressed the need for reliable harmonized data on tourism, as a first step towards implementing the framework and innovative programmes.

In the chair: Brian Simpson i (S&D, UK)

Transport

The presidency's key transport priority will be revising Trans-European Network (TEN-T) guidelines (proposal to be tabled in September, Infrastructure Minister Cezary Grabarczyk told the Transport Committee on 12 July. Its other priorities will be the Social Maritime Agenda and the widening the remit of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA). he added. Mr Grabarczyk said he expected the Commission to present a legislative package on airports in October and promised to pay special attention the ground handling issue. Besides the ongoing debate on recasting the railway directives, new rules on tachographs for lorries and harmonised ones rest and driving times, will be debated in the autumn and should be on the Transport Council agenda in December. In September, an informal meeting of ministers will be devoted to non-budgetary resources for financing transport infrastructure. 

In the chair: Brian Simpson i (S&D, UK)

Employment and social affairs

The presidency's priorities are building solidarity between generations, tackling worker demographics and creating partnerships between administrative organisations and citizens, Labour and Social Policy Minister Jolanta Fedek told the Employment and Social Affairs Committee on 12 July. "A competitive and innovative Europe is built on employment", she said. Regional Development Minister Elzbieta Bienkowska mentioned possible additions to the scope and functioning of the European Social Fund. MEPs backed the presidency's aim to boost solidarity in this time of economic crisis, but warned that it will be difficult to create balanced regulation and to reconcile high youth unemployment with active ageing.

In the chair: Herbert Reul i (EPP, DE)

Home Affairs

Asylum and migration are high on the presidency's agenda. It intends to speed up work on the “asylum package”, Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration Jerzy Miller told the Civil Liberties Committee on 12 July, noting that a European common asylum system is expected to be in place by 2012. On legal migration, the presidency wishes to make progress on the draft directives on seasonal workers and corporate transferees. The Schengen Borders Code and the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen border-free area are also part of their programme. Other areas where the presidency intends to make a difference are organised crime and synthetic drugs.

In the chair: Juan Fernando López Aguilar i (S&D, ES)

Justice

The European protection order should be closed during this presidency, Justice Minister Krzysztof Kwiatkowski told the Civil Liberties Committee on 12 July. The presidency also wishes to make progress on the victims’ package, procedural rights, PNR agreements and the fight against cyber crime.  On child abuse, the minister said: “I fear that the compromise may be threatened because of the correlation tables. I find this very unsettling. This problem of a horizontal nature should not block such a good initiative”.

In the chair: Juan Fernando López Aguilar i (S&D, ES)

International Trade

"European integration can be a source of economic growth," said Polish Minister of Economy Waldemar Pawlak in the International Trade Committee on 12 July. He highlighted the EU's neighbourhood policy as a key tool for economic development, noting that "we see that unemployment and social problems are locked into the national member states, but profits and pleasures of globalisation, like trade, are global." Russia's embargo on EU agricultural products and the enforcement of social and human rights clauses in trade agreements were raised by MEPs in the ensuing discussion.

In the chair: Vital Moreira i (S&D, PT)

Legal affairs

"Justice for growth" is the presidency's goal Justice Minister Justice Krzysztof Kwiatkowski told the Legal Affairs Committee on 12 July. The presidency will focus on the international successions proposal, the revision of the Brussels I system of mutual recognition of judgements, the European contract law proposal (which the Commission is to table soon), the directive on the interconnection of commercial registers, the unitary patent proposals and the orphan works directive, he said. MEPs agreed with those priorities but urged the Council to make good progress, regretting delays in several areas.

In the Chair: Klaus-Heiner Lehne i (EPP, DE)

Economic and monetary affairs 

Draft EU rules on economic governance, and the presidency's plans for further regulating the financial sector, dominated Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski's discussion with Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee MEPs on 4 July.  "So near, but yet far" is how Mr Rostowski summed up the progress of Parliament's talks with Member States on the new economic governance rules.  Corien Wortmann-Kool (EPP, NL) said that the past proves that Parliament's position is legitimate.  Socialist MEPs stressed the need to re-start growth and called on Mr Rostowski to stand by the presidency's manifesto pledge to put growth at the top of its agenda.

On financial regulation, a "huge amount of work still needs to be done",  said Mr Rostowski, adding that good financial services rules are a prerequisite for fiscally solid economies.  New rules on capital requirements are also essential, but "nothing is more important than developing bank crisis resolution mechanisms".

In the chair: Sharon Bowles i (ALDE, UK)

Constitutional affairs

This will be an "integrating and listening" presidency, that seeks to facilitate cooperation among the institutions, Secretary of State for European Affairs Mikolaj Dowgielewicz told the Constitutional Affairs Committee MEPs on 4 July. "Poland is a robust defender of the Community method", he said. MEPs welcomed the presidency's pro-European spirit, and urged Poland to focus on finding solutions in negotiations on economic governance and the EU's multi-annual financial framework. They also asked about Poland's "trio presidency" cooperation with Denmark and Cyprus and about the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty.

In the chair: Carlo Casini i (EPP, IT)