News
BackOn 1 July, Poland will assume the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. On Tuesday, 31 May, the Polish Parliament approved the objectives of the Presidency. Security, economic growth and the internal market, as well as foreign and security policy are central issues of the programme.
Back to economic growth
One of the goals of the Polish Presidency is to promote growth and to close the chapter ‘economic crisis’. The time had come to introduce a “new model of economic growth”. The intention is to achieve economic growth by further developing the European internal market and by putting the EU budget to better use. A central point of the agenda is the start of the negotiations for the multiannual financial framework for 2014-2020. Here the programme of the Polish Presidency emphasises the importance of the Cohesion Policy as investment policy and the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. However, parallel to this the EU Member States are asked to pursue an austerity policy, which is counterproductive to any recovery from the economic crisis.
Security: energy, food, defence
During an information event last Tuesday, Jan Tombiński, Permanent Representative of Poland to the European Union, underlined that energy and food security as well as defence will be the central issues of Poland’s EU Presidency. The macroeconomic security of the EU, among others through the economic governance package, also had to be improved. The supply of raw materials and energy had to be increasingly diversified and more emphasis should be put on sources within the EU, such as shale gas - the extraction of which, however has a harmful impact on the environment - or coal mining. Apart from this, the Polish Presidency is aiming at strengthening the military resources of the EU, for example by a more efficient use of battle groups or a consolidation of the direct EU-NATO dialogue. Security also includes border control and the overhaul of the FRONTEX Regulation (the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union) as well as the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy to secure food supply.
Open Europe
Another priority is the Common Foreign and Security Policy with a focus on integration - by free trade agreements or as EU accession countries - of the neighbouring countries, in particular South East and Eastern Europe: a comprehensive free trade agreement with the Ukraine, the finalisation of the EU accession negotiations with Croatia and negotiations with other Balkan states or a comprehensive action strategy for North Africa.
Further information:
Website of the Polish EU Council presidency until 30.06.2011
Official website of the Polish EU Council presidency from 01.07.2011
One of the goals of the Polish Presidency is to promote growth and to close the chapter ‘economic crisis’. The time had come to introduce a “new model of economic growth”. The intention is to achieve economic growth by further developing the European internal market and by putting the EU budget to better use. A central point of the agenda is the start of the negotiations for the multiannual financial framework for 2014-2020. Here the programme of the Polish Presidency emphasises the importance of the Cohesion Policy as investment policy and the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. However, parallel to this the EU Member States are asked to pursue an austerity policy, which is counterproductive to any recovery from the economic crisis.
Security: energy, food, defence
During an information event last Tuesday, Jan Tombiński, Permanent Representative of Poland to the European Union, underlined that energy and food security as well as defence will be the central issues of Poland’s EU Presidency. The macroeconomic security of the EU, among others through the economic governance package, also had to be improved. The supply of raw materials and energy had to be increasingly diversified and more emphasis should be put on sources within the EU, such as shale gas - the extraction of which, however has a harmful impact on the environment - or coal mining. Apart from this, the Polish Presidency is aiming at strengthening the military resources of the EU, for example by a more efficient use of battle groups or a consolidation of the direct EU-NATO dialogue. Security also includes border control and the overhaul of the FRONTEX Regulation (the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union) as well as the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy to secure food supply.
Open Europe
Another priority is the Common Foreign and Security Policy with a focus on integration - by free trade agreements or as EU accession countries - of the neighbouring countries, in particular South East and Eastern Europe: a comprehensive free trade agreement with the Ukraine, the finalisation of the EU accession negotiations with Croatia and negotiations with other Balkan states or a comprehensive action strategy for North Africa.
Further information:
Website of the Polish EU Council presidency until 30.06.2011
Official website of the Polish EU Council presidency from 01.07.2011