Poolse ministers en Europees Parlement bespreken prioriteiten Pools voorzitterschap (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.
Culture and education
The key topics in culture and education will include mobility (e.g. opening ERASMUS to students from neighbouring countries as well as to PhD students), youth participation and language learning, Polish National Education Minister Katarzyna Hall told the Culture Committee. Committee chair Doris Pack (EPP, DE) and other MEPs voiced opposition to the Commission's plans to rename established EU mobility programmes, although Hannu Takkula (ALDE, FI) believed "the content is more important than the label".
The need to modernise European universities, particularly by improving their orientation towards labour market, was stressed by Barbara Kudrycka, Science and Higher Education Minister and a former MEP. "Universities are difficult to reform, but this has to be done", agreed Seán Kelly (EPP, IE). Petra Kammerevert (S&D, DE) urged the presidency to pay more attention to vocational training, while Katarína Neved'alová (S&D, SK) spoke of the need for EU-wide recognition of professional qualifications. The minister promised to address both issues.
The presidency would aim at providing more cultural activities for youth, easing the employability of culture specialists, improving cultural statistics and finalising the legislation on the European heritage label, said Deputy Culture and National Heritage Minister Piotr Zuchowski. Poland would also focus on digitisation of cultural works (especially improving the Europeana digital library) as well as protecting children in the digital environment.
Sport and Tourism Minister Adam Giersz promised to fight match-fixing and doping by encouraging Member States to criminalise fraud in sport. At the same time the presidency will encourage volunteering in sport and increase its inclusiveness. During the debate, the EP rapporteur for sport Santiago Fisas (EPP, ES) called for more study opportunities to be created for professional sports people.
In the chair: Doris PACK (EPP, DE)
Agriculture
Food security, both European and worldwide, as well as the development of renewable energy in rural areas, are the presidency's top priorities, the Agriculture Committee was told on Tuesday by Marek Sawicki, Poland's Agriculture and Rural Development Minister. The presidency would seek to hammer out "an appropriate compromise" for the food quality package and advance on other issues such as milk contracts, bovine electronic identification, animal welfare and sanitary issues.
As to the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, the presidency was prepared to start "intensive discussions" as soon as the Commission's draft legislation was on the table. "The future of the Common Agricultural Policy is a matter of great importance for the Polish presidency", stressed Mr Sawicki, adding that Poland would seek to simplify the policy, move it away from historical payment criteria and promote "development, innovation and competitiveness" so that it could work both for farmers and for consumers.
In the chair: Paolo de Castro (S&D, IT)
Fisheries
Reform of the Common Fisheries Policy will be at heart of the newly-inaugurated Polish presidency's agenda. "It is clear that we need a far-reaching reform" which will have to be both ambitious and bold, said Minister Marek Sawicki to members of the Fisheries Committee on Wednesday. Legislative proposals were due to be unveiled today (13 July) by the European Commission and the discussions - with involvement of the industry - will start immediately and resume in the autumn.
The Polish presidency will also seek to set levels of total allowable catches (TACs) for 2012, address the issue of multiannual management plans and concentrate on fisheries partnership agreements with non-EU countries such as Mauritania, Greenland and Morocco.
In the chair: Carmen Fraga Estévez (EPP, ES)
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 (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 (EPP, PL)
Tourism
The presidency will build on the "consolidated framework" proposed by the Commission last year and measures set out in 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 (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 (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: Pervenche Berès (S&D, FR)
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 (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 (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 (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 (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 (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 (EPP, IT)
Industry, Energy and Research Committee
On 12 July, Deputy Prime Minister Waldemar Pawlak described the presidency's energy policy programme energy under four main headingx: external relations as regards suppliers and transport; energy efficiency, infrastructure and safety of energy-related activities. On external relations, Mr Pawlak urged "improved coordination and more operational solidarity, to convince Member States that they are better off acting together or at least in the same direction". The presidency will also push for interconnection projects - electricity grids and gas pipelines - all over the EU. Finally, the Deputy Prime Minister called for a "change in rhetoric" about a low-carbon economy. He advocated a more general approach, going for "low emissions" and improved energy efficiency.
Later the same day, Barbara Kudrycka, Minister of Science and Higher Education, stressed the importance of intellectual capital for research in the EU and promised measures to lift financial and administrative obstacles faced by researchers. She called for more investment in education and training as well as exchanges of best practice to maximise the impact of research funding. The next research framework programme should be made simpler for applicants, and here lessons might be learnt from the Active and Healthy Ageing Flagship Initiative.
The Digital Agenda, implementing the radio spectrum programme, the question of network neutrality and reducing roaming charges were the priorities highlighted on 13 July by Infrastructure Minister Cezary Grabarczyk and Deputy Minister of the Interior and Administration Piotr Kolodziejczyk (in charge of telecommunications and information society respectively). The "digital revolution can help Europe emerge from the crisis", said Mr Grabarczyk, adding that "working all together in a spirit of optimism can bring positive results". Mr Kolodziejczyk also referred to cybersecurity and the development of e-administration, which should help to "build digital confidence" among citizens.
In the chair: Herbert Reul (EPP, DE)