Overzicht resultaten Pools voorzitterschap oktober (en)

Mikolaj Dowgielewicz, Secretary of State for European Affairs, on Friday summed up the results of the Polish Presidency’s work in October.

The efforts of the Presidency concentrated on anti-crisis activities and on promoting the ideas and priorities of the Presidency’s programme such as bolstering the common market and the multi-annual budget. One of the key elements of the anti-crisis package adopted at the recent summits of the EU and euro area was the systemic strengthening of the banking sector, worked out at the Ecofin Council under the Polish Presidency’s guidance. ‘The Single Market Forum, a conference devoted to sources of economic growth, was also an important event (…) as was the Budget Conference which for the first time gathered representatives of national parliaments,’ Minister Dowgielewicz said.

The Polish Presidency has brought about agreement in areas where its predecessors were unsuccessful. One such success was the agreement reached on the issue of correlation tables, i.e. special documents describing how the provisions of EU law are being implemented in the Member States. The lack of such an agreement had blocked work on legislative acts in the European Parliament such as the directive on combating the sexual abuse of children (adopted by the EP last Thursday). ‘The Presidency managed to bring about agreement on the matter of the European Union’s external representation. Ever since the Lisbon Treaty came into effect, there had been disputes over the way the EU was to be represented at various international events and how the EU is to take the floor. The Polish Presidency also succeeded in bringing about that agreement,’ Dowgielewicz emphasised.

‘At the moment the most important thing is further stabilisation of the European economy and further decisions being taken at Ecofin pertaining to certain details of the agreement reached at last Wednesday’s summit,’ he added.

In the coming weeks the priorities of the Polish Presidency’s efforts will be further stabilisation of the economic situation, adoption of the EU’s 2012 budget and issues related to European Union enlargement such as the status of Serbia’s membership candidature, the date on which accession talks with Montenegro are due to begin and continued talks with Turkey.