In April 2014 the EU Affairs Committee (SUE) held 7 meetings: no. 242-248. During these meetings the Committee:

• scrutinised 147 EU documents,
• considered information on legislative work related to the implementation of EU directives for which the transposition deadline has expired or will expire within the next three months (as of 24.02.2014), presented by the representatives of appropriate ministries (mtg no. 246);
• held the first reading (mtg no. 248) of:
  • deputies' draft resolution on the withdrawal of Poland from Protocol no. 30 of the Treaty of Lisbon of 13 December 2007, the so called British Protocol which will result in complete adoption of the Charter of Fundamental Rights (paper no. 1858),
  • deputies' draft resolution on the Charter of Fundamental Rights (paper no. 1900).

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In April 2014 information and documents on SUE meetings no. 242-247, provided by the EU Affairs Committee secretariat, were published in the EDL-S (European Legislative Documents in the Sejm) and IPEX databases.

 Public Finance Committee

• 23.04.2014, heard the information on the Poland's contribution to the European Union budget and on the absorption of the European funds in 2004-2013 (mtg no. 324);

Innovation and New Technologies Committee

• 02.04.2014, considered the information on the disbursed funds and the results achieved under the Operational Programme Innovative Economy (mtg no. 114);
• 23.04.2014, considered the information of the Minister of Infrastructure and Development  on the progress of preparation of the Operational Programme Intelligent Development 2014-2020 and Operational Programme Development of Eastern Poland 2014-2020 (mtg no. 117);

Agriculture and Rural Development Committee

• 02.04.2014, considered: the information of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) on the participation in the activities of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in March 2014; the information of the ARD Minister on planned and undertaken actions under the European Union law and Polish law on the elimination of the consequences of the swine disease (ASF) in Poland (mtg no. 182);
• 23.04.2014, heard the information of the ARD Minister on the present state of the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 sent to the European Commission on 15th April 2014 (mtg no. 185);

Local Government and Regional Policy Committee

• 24.04.2014, considered the raport of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development "Review and analysis of the regional innovation systems of Poland's voivodeship in the context of preparation for the implementation of the European cohesion policy after 2013" (mtg no. 261).

• the following bills implementing EU law have been referred to the first reading [paper no.]:

• Government bill amending the act - Geological and Mining Law and some other acts [2352],
• Government bill amending the act on corporate income tax, act on personal income tax and some other acts [2330],
• Government bill amending the act on health care benefits financed from public funds and and some other acts [2293].

• the following acts implementing EU law have been adopted [paper no.]:

• • Act of 24 April 2014 amending the act on stocks of crude oil, petroleum products and natural gas and on the procedures applicable in circumstances of a threat to the fuel security of the state and disruptions on the petroleum market and amending some acts [2149],
  • Act of 24 April 2014 amending the act - Water law and some other acts [2106],
  • Act of 24 April 2014 amending the act on supplementary supervision of credit institutions, insurance undertakings, reinsurance undertakings and investment firms in a financial conglomerate and some other acts [2050],
  • Act of 4 April 2014 amending the act – Criminal Code and some other acts [2016],
  • Act of 4 April 2014 amending the act - Atomic Law and some other acts [1993],
  • Act of 4 April 2014 amending the act on exercise of the legislative initiative by citizens [1990],
• the following acts implementing EU law have been published [paper no.]:

• • Act of 4 April 2014 amending the act – Criminal Code and some other acts  [2016],
  • Act of 21 March 2014 amending the act on biofuel components and liquid biofuels and some other acts [2051],
  • Act of 14 March 2014 amending the act - Road Traffic Law and some other acts [1991].

In April 2014, 20 draft legislative acts were subject to subsidiarity scrutiny. As of 6 May 2014, national parliaments submitted 2 reasoned opinions on the non-compliance of these draft acts with the subsidiarity principle.

13-14 April 2014, Vilnius, Meeting of the of the EU Committees of the Parliaments of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland
- Preparation to the LI COSAC Plenary Meeting,
- Eastern Partnership: on the way to the 4th summit in Riga,
- Exchange of views on the informal parliamentary debate on the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region.

6-8 April 2014, Vilnius, Conference of Speakers of the European Union Parliaments
- Role of parliaments in tackling the consequences of the economic and financial crisis,
- Five years after coming into force of the Treaty of Lisbon: lessons of subsidiarity checks in parliaments,
- Interparliamentary cooperation with the Eastern Partnership countries,
- Commemoration of the International Roma Day and adoption of the Declaration,
- Interparliamentary cooperation in the area of freedom, security and justice,
- Debate on and adoption of the Presidency conclusions.

3-4 April 2014, Athens, Inter-Parliamentary Conference for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy
- Security challenges in the EU's southern and eastern neighbourhoods – a national perspective,
- Current priorities on the CFSP and the CSDP, including the situation in Ukraine (in camera),
- Conclusions of the December Council: developments on the defence and security sector,
- Workshops (European Union Maritime Security Strategy, the maritime dimension of the Common Security and Defence Policy; Recent developments in the Middle East; Deploying military forces under CSDP, parliamentary decision making procedures and practices),
- Progress Report on the works of the Ad Hoc Review Committee,
- Presentation of the results of the workshops and adoption of the conclusions. 

ON THE OIDE WEBSITE

In the section Legal and Systemic Issues

• EU enlargement to the Western Balkans
  Information concerning the EU enlargement strategy for the Western Balkans, including progress of preparations of candidates and the prospects of individual countries.
• EU Development Agenda after 2015
  Due to the forthcoming deadline for the achievement of the so-called Millennium Development Goals, adopted at the UN conference in 2000, basic EU programming documents related to the realisation of MDG were presented, as well as the basis for EU development policy after 2015.
• Green and white papers,  Debate on EU priorities within the area of freedom, security and justice for the period 2015-2019,  Single Market Act,  Integrated financial framework, i.e. so-called banking union,  European semester - new documents were added

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EUROPEAN ELECTIONS 2014

(accessed on 06.05.2104)

• Bertoncini Y., Chopin T.: Des visages sur des clivages : les élections européennes de mai 2014, Notre Europe – Jacques Delors Institute, 25.04.2014.
• Piedrafita S., Renman V.: The 'Personalisation' of the European Elections: A half-hearted attempt to increase turnout and democratic legitimacy?, "EPIN Papers" no. 37, The European Policy Institutes Network, 11.04.2014.
• Rulka M.: Wybrane problemy wyborów do Parlamentu Europejskiego, "INFOS Zagadnienia społeczno-gospodarcze" nr 8 (168), Biuro Analiz Sejmowych, 23.04.2014.

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LATEST DEBATES - COMMENTS

Articles on the current political and economic issues in the EU from the specialist periodicals available on-line (accessed 06.05.2014)

• Andoura S., Bössner S.: What new Climate and Energy Package for the EU?, "Tribune", Notre Europe – Jacques Delors Institute, 13.03.2014.
• Bertoncini Y., Fernandes S.: The "stupidity pact" is not stable, "Tribune", Notre Europe – Jacques Delors Institute, 29.04.2014.
• D'Alfonso A.: Own resources of the European Union, "At a glance", European Parliamentary Research Service, 10.04.2014.
• Dudzińska K., Gawlikowska-Fyk A.: Rynek gazu na Ukrainie: główne wyzwania i możliwe działania UE, „Biuletyn PISM" nr 41 (1153), Polski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych, 04.04.2014.
• Emerson M.: Proportionality needed in the subsidiarity debate in the EU – Appraisal of the British and Dutch initiatives, "CEPS Essay" no. 11, Centre for European Policy Studies, 08.04.2014.
• Ferraro F.: Frontex and surveillance of the EU's external sea borders, "At a glance", European Parliamentary Research Service, 10.04.2014.
• Koranyi D.: The Southern Gas Corridor: Europe's Lifeline?, "IAI Working Paper" 14/07, Istituto Affari Internazionali, 30.04.2014.
• Kugiel P.: Zmiany we współpracy rozwojowej UE: skutki dla Polski, „Biuletyn PISM" nr 46 (1158), Polski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych, 17.04.2014.
• Rostowska M.: Energia w TTIP: wsparcie dla bezpieczeństwa energetycznego UE, „Biuletyn PISM" nr 52 (1164), Polski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych, 30.04.2014.
• Wolczuk K.: Ukraine and the EU: turning the Association Agreement into a success story, "Policy Brief", European Policy Centre, 23.04.2014.