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31 January 2016
EUROPEAN DEBATES IN THE SEJM

On 30 January 2016 the Sejm accepted the information on the Republic of Poland's participation in the activities of the European Union in July-December 2015, during the Luxembourg Presidency of the EU Council - resolution. The information was earlier debated together with the position of the EU Affairs Committee in plenary on 28 January 2016 (verbatim record/PL, point 9).

On 29 January 2016 the Sejm heard information of the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the tasks of the Polish foreign policy in 2016 and held the debate (verbatim record/PL, point 4).

EU DOCUMENTS IN THE SEJM
In January 2016 the EU Affairs Committee (SUE) held 9 meetings: no. 12-20. During these meetings the Committee:
  • scrutinised 56 EU documents:
    • pursuant to Art. 7(4) of the Cooperation Act – 12 EU draft legislative acts concerning i.a. the landfill of waste, control of the acquisition and possession of weapons or certain aspects of company law,
    • pursuant to Art. 151(1) of the Sejm Standing Orders and Art. 3(2) of the Cooperation Act – 28 European Commission documents (22 reports, 5 communications and 1 recommendation) concerning i.a. the organisation of the labour force sample survey in the Community, European copyright framework or the structure and rates of excise duty applied to manufactured tobacco,
    • pursuant to Art. 11(1) of the Cooperation Act – EU documents, which were to be discussed by Economic and Financial Affairs Council,
    • pursuant to Art. 8(2) of the Cooperation Act – 14 EU draft legal acts concerning i.a. the autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties on certain agricultural and industrial products, the Agreement between the European Union and the People's Republic of China on the short-stay visa waiver for holders of diplomatic passports or the position to be adopted, on behalf of the European Union, in the control committee of the Paris memorandum of understanding on port state control,
  • adopted opinion no. 4 concerning draft Council decision on the adoption of provisions amending the Act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage (mtg no. 19),
  • examined and adopted positive opinion for the Public Finance Committee on the draft budget act within the scope of the Committee competence (opinion no. 3, mtg no. 12),
  • heard information on the progress of dialogue between Poland and European Union on selected aspects of Polish internal policy, presented by Secretary of State in Ministry of Foreign Affairs Konrad Szymański (mtg no. 16),
  • heard information on the annual report of the European Court of Auditors on the implementation of the budget concerning the financial year 2014, presented by the member of ECO Augustyn Kubik (mtg no. 18),
  • considered Government's information on the Republic of Poland's participation in the activities of the European Union in the period July-December 2015 during Luxembourg Presidency (paper no. 181, mtg no. 19),
  • met with the vice-ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg André Flammang and heard information on the results of Luxembourg Presidency of the EU Council, and met with the Chargé d'affaires a.i. of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Adriaan Palm and heard information on the programme of the Netherlands Presidency of the EU Council (mtg no. 21),
  • appointed standing subcommittees (mtg no. 22):
    • on trade agreement between the European Union and the United States of America (TTIP),
    • on the use of founds from the European Union. 

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In January 2016 information on and documents of SUE meetings no. 12-15 and 17-20, provided by the EU Affairs Committee secretariat, were published in the EDL-S (European Legislative Documents in the Sejm) and IPEX databases.

WORK IN COMMITTEES

Digital Affairs, Innovation and New Technologies Committee

  • 27.01.2016, considered information of the Minister of Digital Affairs on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and the Council concerning measures to ensure a high common level of network and information security across the Union (so called NIS directive);
  • 28.01.2016, considered information of the Supreme Audit Office on the results of audit of supporting the development of the innovative enterprises with European Union founds under action 4.3 and 4.5 of the Innovative Economy Operational Programme together with the position of Minister of Development.

Energy and State Treasury Committee

  • 28.01.2016, considered information on EU energy package in the context of the impact of conclusions of the COP Paris Conference on national energy system.
IMPLEMENTATION OF EU LAW - UST DATABASE

In January 2016

  • the following bills implementing EU law have been referred to the first reading [paper no.]:
    • Government bill on the Bank Guarantee Fund, the deposit guarantee scheme and forced restructuring [215],
    • Government bill amending the act on radio and television broadcasting [203],
    • Government bill amending the act on public roads and the act on toll motorways and the National Road Fund [190],
  • the following act implementing EU law has been adopted [paper no.]:
    • Act of 30 January 2016 on the re-use of public sector information [141],
  • the following acts implementing EU law have been published [paper no.]:
    • Act of 22 December 2016 on principles of recognition of professional qualifications acquired in the Member States of the European Union [108],
    • Act of 22 December 2015 amending the act on vehicle drivers [84].
SUBSIDIARITY CHECK IN NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS

Subsidiarity scrutiny in January
(Information from IPEX database as of 03.02.2016)

Draft legislative act
Deadlinbe for subsidiarity scrutiny
Adoption / transmission of reasoned opinion
Chamber / parliament (country)
COM(2015) 496 14.01.2016 - -
COM(2015) 701 25.01.2016 - -
COM(2015) 593 02.02.2016 - -
COM(2015) 594 02.02.2016 - -
COM(2015) 595 02.02.2016 19.01.2016 / 25.01.2016 Federal Council (Austria)
COM(2015) 596 02.02.2016 - -
COM(2015) 750 02.02.2016 27.01.2016 / 28.01.2016 Riksdag (Sweden)
COM(2015) 615 03.02.2016 - -
COM(2015) 646 09.02.2016 - -
COM(2015) 648 11.02.2016 - -
COM(2015) 627 12.02.2016 - -
COM(2015) 583 16.02.2016 - -
COM(2015) 586 16.02.2016 - -
COM(2015) 625 17.02.2016 - -
COM(2015) 613 02.03.2016 - -
COM(2015) 634 08.03.2016 - -
COM(2015) 635 08.03.2016 - -
COM(2015) 667 14.03.2016 - / 22.01.2016 Seimas (Lituania)
COM(2015) 670 15.03.2016 - -
COM(2015) 671 15.03.2016 - -
WSZYSTKIE UZASADNIONE OPINIE PARLAMENTÓW NARODOWYCH W BAZIE IPEX

In January 2016, 20 draft legislative acts were subject to subsidiarity scrutiny. As of 3 February 2016, the national parliaments submitted 3 reasoned opinions on the non-compliance of the scrutinised draft acts with the subsidiarity principle.

INTERPARLIAMENTARY COOPERATION

31 January - 2 February 2016, Warsaw, Meeting of the European Affairs Committees from parliaments of the Visegrád Group countries
- Common asylum and migration policy – to secure Europe's external borders
- United Kingdom European Union membership referendum
- EU funds for transport and energy infrastructure projects
- Adoption of the conclusions

24-25 January 2016, Vilnius, Meeting of the of the EU Affairs Committees of the parliaments of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland
- Exchange of views on the draft agenda of the meeting of COSAC chairpersons
- Exchange of views on the topical EU agenda questions: migration agenda of the EU, Brexit
- Exchange of views on the development of regional infrastructure projects

RECENT PUBLICATIONS
New books in the Sejm Library Przegląd Sejmowy Kronika Sejmowa (EN)

NEW ON THE OIDE WEBSITE

Following sections have been updated

OIDE Notes: Green and White Papers
Debates of the Sejm on EU affaires: 8th term
Resolutions of the Sejm on EU affaires: 8th term

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LATEST DEBATES - COMMENTS

Selected articles on the current political and economic issues in the EU from the specialist periodicals available on-line (accessed 03.02.2016)

has been published