Polish EU Council Presidency 2011

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Polish EU Presidency 2011 logo
logo
country PolandPoland Poland
Term of office July 1, 2011 - December 31, 2011
Chair Radosław Sikorski
trio
PolandPoland Poland , Denmark , CyprusDenmarkDenmark Cyprus RepublicRepublic of Cyprus 
chronology
  Hungary Denmark   

The Polish EU Presidency in the second half of 2011 refers to the presidency of Poland in the Council of Ministers of the European Union . Poland is part of the fourth trio presidency , which will also include the Danish and Cypriot presidencies in 2012.

On July 1, 2011 , the members of the Tusk Cabinet took over the chairmanship of the various Council formations from the Hungarian Presidency, in accordance with the schedule . The General Affairs Council is chaired by the Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski ( PO ). The presidency of the European Council (the body of heads of state and government) has not rotated since the Treaty of Lisbon came into force , but is elected for two and a half years. Herman Van Rompuy has been in office since December 1, 2009 .

The parliamentary elections in Poland , which took place on October 9, 2011, also took place during the Council Presidency . The new cabinet was then formed on November 18, 2011 and the tasks assigned to its members.

subjects

Reform of the European Monetary Union

The issues facing the European Union during the Polish Council Presidency include the reform of the European Economic and Monetary Union and the introduction of the SPE (Societas Privata Europaea). After the European Council had agreed on a package of reforms, including the European Stabilization Mechanism , in the first half of 2011 , the national ratification procedures are now to be initiated.

In addition, the so-called " six pack ", a legislative package to improve economic policy coordination, is up for discussion. A far-reaching agreement was reached on this in June 2011 between the European Parliament and the Council of the EU; however, due to some remaining issues, Parliament had recently postponed the final vote. The main disagreement is whether sanctions should be automatic if the Stability and Growth Pact is violated , as advocated by the Commission and Parliament, or only after a previous decision by the Council, as requested by the French and German governments, among others. In addition, there is disagreement within Parliament as to whether the proposed measures should only serve to reduce government deficits, which is in line with the position of the EPP and ALDE , or also to promote growth, as called for by the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Social Democrats in the European Parliament . In the event of a successful adoption of the six-pack, Currency Commissioner Olli Rehn also announced that he would like to submit proposals for the introduction of EU bonds .

In addition to these long-term reform projects, the euro crisis also continued. At the beginning of July, for example, the price of Italian government bonds fell and Ireland's credit rating was downgraded . The Greek financial crisis also intensified. A special summit of the European Council therefore took place on July 21 , at which, in addition to further aid loans, a partial rescheduling of Greece's debt was decided. In addition, structural reforms of the European Financial Stability Facility ("EU rescue package") were agreed, through which it can in future, among other things, buy government bonds from indebted countries.

Multiannual financial framework 2014-2020

Another topic will be the budget of the European Union . In addition to the regular adoption of the annual budget for 2012, the Polish Presidency also debates the multiannual financial framework for the period 2014-2020, for which the European Commission presented an initial proposal immediately before the start of the Polish Presidency.

As early as 2010, Great Britain and several other countries proposed freezing the EU budget from 2013 and reducing EU structural funds, which was criticized in particular by the Central and Eastern European countries , which are the main net recipients of the structural funds . Poland announced that it wanted to work for European "solidarity" and the preservation of the structural funds. In addition, from a Polish perspective, the EU budget should be used more to stimulate economic growth in the EU.

The financial transaction tax proposed by the Commission , which as a new type of own resources , is intended to partially replace national contributions to the EU budget, is also controversial . Such an EU tax is welcomed by the European Parliament , but rejected by the governments of various member states, especially Germany.

Energy policy

Like the previous presidencies of the Council, the Polish one will deal with the energy policy of the European Union . During this time, the EU-wide stress tests for nuclear power plants , which began under the Hungarian Council Presidency on June 1 and are expected to be completed by around the end of 2011, are running .

In addition, according to the Polish plans, the energy foreign policy of the EU member states is to be standardized more closely. Negotiations with countries like Russia , from which the EU imports energy, should therefore increasingly be conducted by the Commissioner for Energy Günther Oettinger instead of individual member states. In particular, Poland is striving for greater independence from energy imports from Russia.

Immigration Policy and the Schengen Agreement

Another central topic will be the discussion on the Schengen Agreement . After the influx of refugees into EU countries increased as a result of the protests in the Arab world in 2010–2011 , the European Council in June 2011 asked the Commission to work out a proposal to revise the agreement by September. One of the topics under discussion is the introduction of a new body at European level that should approve the temporary reintroduction of border controls if necessary. This should on the one hand place them on a clear legal basis and thus make them easier, but on the other hand also withdraw them from the purely national decision of individual states. It is unclear, however, whether this possible new body will only be composed of the national interior ministries of the EU or whether the supranational institutions, i.e. the Commission and the European Parliament, should also be involved. While the interior ministries mostly advocate a rather restrictive immigration policy, the European Parliament mostly pushes for freedom of travel to be enforced.

At the beginning of July, the Danish parliament also passed the reintroduction of controls at the national border, which the Danish government had announced a few weeks earlier. This measure was criticized by neighboring countries such as Germany, the European Parliament and the Polish Presidency. The European Commission announced a review of whether there has been a violation of the Schengen Agreement.

The accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen Agreement will also be discussed. This was originally planned for the beginning of 2011, but was rejected by several member states because the protection of the external borders by these countries was not yet adequately guaranteed. As a solution, Poland proposed the gradual introduction of the Schengen provisions in these countries, which could be decided at a summit in September.

Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy

Group photo at the Eastern Partnership Summit .

The Croatia's accession negotiations with the European Union , the content mentioned in the previous Hungarian Presidency have been completed, should lead to the signing of the Accession Treaty under the Polish Presidency. This is to come into force in mid-2013 after ratification by all member states. In addition, the Polish Presidency is also aiming to revive the accession negotiations with Turkey . The opening of several negotiating chapters is expected in the accession negotiations with Iceland , which entered the main phase shortly before the start of the Polish Presidency.

With regard to the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP), Poland has announced a summit with the member states of the Eastern Partnership for September . Thereupon, among other things, trade agreements and visa facilitation are to be negotiated. In addition, the democratization process initiated by the protests in the Arab world in 2010–2011 is to be supported.

The summit of the Eastern Partnership, to which the EU and six partly neighboring eastern countries belong, took place in Warsaw from 29-30 September. The discussions focused on human rights violations in Belarus and Ukraine. Instead of meeting with President Aljaksandr Lukashenka , who is considered the last dictator in Europe, Chancellor Merkel demonstratively met with members of the Belarusian opposition.

Security and Defense Policy

The common security and defense policy is also part of the Council Presidency's agenda. Discussions about expanding the EU battlegroups and establishing a joint military headquarters are to be initiated. However, following the disagreement between the member states over the military operation in Libya, concrete steps in this area are considered unlikely.

Reform of the European electoral law

After the Committee on Constitutional Affairs of the European Parliament a proposal to reform the 19 April 2011 European election system has decided it is under Polish Presidency to the European Council to be submitted. In particular, it is intended to supplement the previous system of national seat quotas with transnational electoral lists for which every European party or parliamentary group in the European Parliament can propose 25 candidates. However, such a reform would require an amendment to the EU Treaty , so it would have to be decided by an intergovernmental conference and ratified by all member states.

Logo of the Polish EU Council Presidency

Unlike the previous trio presidencies from Spain, Belgium and Hungary, Poland, Denmark and Cyprus do not use a common logo. The logo of the Polish EU Council Presidency is inspired by the flag of the Solidarność trade union , which initiated the decline of the communist regime in Poland in the 1980s. This connection also relates to the successful transformation and development of Poland in the years since the fall of the Wall.

The colors of the logo (arrows) are made up of the colors of the flags of all EU member states. The arrows pointing upwards symbolize the continued development of the Union ("growing Europe") and are also intended to symbolize optimism for the future. The Polish flag is intended to symbolize the active and committed further development of Europe over the next six months under the leadership of Poland.

Footnotes

  1. a b c EUobserver , June 9, 2011: A short guide to the Polish presidency (English).
  2. a b EurActiv , June 23, 2011: Economic government: Rehn lures EU Parliament with Eurobonds .
  3. EUobserver , July 13, 2011: Rehn calls for 'responsibilty' over economic rules .
  4. EurActiv , 11 Jul 2011: "We are very concerned about Italy"
  5. EurActiv , July 14, 2011: Too little time to decide on the Greece package?
  6. Süddeutsche Zeitung , July 21, 2011: Finally, a smile .
  7. ^ Spiegel online , July 21, 2011: Sarkozy pushes the European Monetary Fund through .
  8. ^ Wiener Zeitung , June 29, 2011: Commission for Agricultural Cuts .
  9. EurActiv , December 17, 2010: Cameron gathers troops for a budget fight ( Memento of the original from December 22, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / euractiv.com
  10. EurActiv , May 24, 2011: Poland opens new EU representation and presents its plans .
  11. a b c d e EurActiv , June 1, 2011: EU Agenda: Priorities of the Polish Presidency .
  12. EurAcitv , June 30, 2011: EU budget: Commission wants more money and EU tax .
  13. Focus , May 25, 2011: EU agree on stress test for nuclear reactors .
  14. a b EurActiv , May 12, 2011: Logo of the Polish EU Presidency inspired by Solidarność .
  15. Süddeutsche Zeitung , June 24, 2011: EU wants to allow more border controls .
  16. Der Standard , May 12, 2011: EU Interior Minister: Border control in national hands .
  17. a b Süddeutsche Zeitung , July 1, 2011: Denmark begins with new border controls .
  18. EUobserver , July 7, 2011: Polish leader confronts 'nationalist' Denmark (English).
  19. EUobserver , July 18, 2011: Denmark's border controls 'insufficiently justified', says commission .
  20. EUobserver , June 10, 2011: Poland looks to Schengen deal in September .
  21. ^ Wiener Zeitung , May 20, 2011: Croatia expects to join in 2013 (accessed on December 3, 2013).
  22. EurActiv , June 28, 2011: EU accession talks: Iceland sets record .
  23. ^ "Tymoshenko case weighs on Warsaw Summit" , Deutsche Welle , September 29, 2011.
  24. ^ "EU insists on democracy at Warsaw summit" , Deutsche Welle , September 30, 2011.
  25. EUobserver , April 19, 2011: Call for Europeans to elect 25 MEPs from EU-wide list (English).
  26. European Parliament , April 15, 2011: Reform of the electoral law: Parliament should become more European .
  27. The logo was created by the same artist, Jerzy Janiszewski (born 1953), who also created the Solidarność union logo .
  28. Declaration according to the lecture of the First Secretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Austria, Ms. Zielińska, at the invitation of the Europa-Union Vorarlberg (EU-V) on June 28, 2011 in Dornbirn ( Vorarlberg ).
predecessor Office successor
Hungarian EU Council Presidency EU Council Presidency
July 1, 2011 - December 31, 2011
Danish EU Council Presidency