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30 April 2016
EUROPEAN DEBATES AND RESOLUTIONS OF THE SEJM

On 13 April 2016 the Sejm adopted the resolution on declaring the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 96/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1996 concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services (COM(2016) 128) to be incompatible with the subsidiarity principle (reasoned opinion).

On 1 April 2016 the Sejm adopted the resolution on Poland's immigration policy.

EU DOCUMENTS IN THE SEJM
In April 2016 the EU Affairs Committee (SUE) held 7 meetings: no. 43-49. During these meetings the Committee:
  • scrutinised 59 EU documents:
    • pursuant to Art. 7(4) of the Cooperation Act – 11 EU draft legislative acts concerning i.a. new instrument to provide emergency support within the Union, posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services or conservation of fishery resources and the protection of marine ecosystems through technical measures,
    • pursuant to Art. 151(1) of the Sejm Standing Orders and Art. 3(2) of the Cooperation Act – 25 documents (16 EC reports, 6 EC communications and 3 Council implementing decisions) concerning i.a. relocation and resettlement, steel or the activities of the European Judicial Network in civil and commercial matters,
    • pursuant to Art. 11(1) of the Cooperation Act – EU documents, which were to be discussed by Justice and Home Affairs Council,
    • pursuant to Art. 8(2) of the Cooperation Act – 15 EU draft legal acts concerning i.a. the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the EU and the Cook Islands or signing of the Paris Agreement on climate change,
  • together with Public Finance Committee and Economy and Development Committee heard information on:
    • Convergence Programme and National Reform Programme prepared by Poland due to the implementation of European Semester in 2016, presented by Jadwiga Emilewicz, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Development and Leszek Skiba, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Finance,
    • EC communication 2016 European Semester: Assessment of progress on structural reforms, prevention and correction of macroeconomic imbalances, and results of in-depth reviews under Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011 (COM(2016) 95) and the Government's position referring to it, presented by Jadwiga Emilewicz, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Development.

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SUBSIDIARITY SCRUTINY
COM(2016) 128 – deadline for scrutiny: 10.05.2016
Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 96/71/EC of The European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1996 concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services
SUE:

  • 30.03.2016, mtg. 40 - opinion no. 40 on the non-compliance with the subsidiarity principle,
  • 12.04.2016, mtg. 43 - the Committee draft resolution containing reasoned opinion (paper no. 410),
  • 13.04.2016, mtg. 45 - the first reading of the Committee draft resolution containing reasoned opinion,

Sejm:

  • 13.04.2016, 16th sitting - adoption of the resolution on declaring the proposal COM(2016) 128 to be incompatible with the subsidiarity principle (reasoned opinion),
  • 20.04.2016 - transmission of the resolution to the presidents of the EP, Council and European Commission.

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In April 2016 information on and documents of SUE meetings no. 43-46, 48 and 49, 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

  • 20.04.2016, took note (during off-site meeting in Poznań) of the information on modern technologies and smart specialization in the Regional Operational Programme for Wielkopolskie Voivodeship; considered the information of the President of PARP "How to promote on international markets the Polish technology startups - experience from the preparation of programmes: Promotion of Polish ICT industry and the Polish tech-bridges" (mtg no. 16);

Education, Science and Youth Committee

  • 28.04.2016, considered the information of the Minister of National Education on suport for vocational education from European funds under the Operational Programme Knowledge Education Development 2014-2020 (mtg no. 26);

Infrastructure Committee

  • 27.04.2016, considered the information of the Minister of Infrastructure and Construction on the current state of implementation and closing of railway projects under the financial perspective 2007-2013 (mtg no. 17);

Physical Culture and Sport Committee

  • 13.04.2016, considered: the information on the use of EU funds under the financial perspective 2014-2020 for activities in the area of sport and tourism; information on the possible use of EU funds, which can help to achieve or improve skills of sports coaches, trainers and physical education teachers and to develop a two-track careers of sportspersons; information on the implementation of the new directive EP and the Council (EU) 2015/2302 on package travel and linked travel arrangements (mtg no. 21);

Ageing Policy Committee

  • 12.04.2016, heard the information on the state of implementation of the priorities and programmes for the elderly people under the financial perspective 2014-2020 (mtg no. 12);

Social Policy and Family Committee

  • 27.04.2016, held the first reading and considered the Government bill amending some acts in connection with the implementation of the Directive 2014/54/EU on measures facilitating the exercise of rights conferred on workers in the context of freedom of movement for workers, paper no. 431 (mtg no. 20);

Agriculture and Rural Development Committee

  • 13.04.2016, held the first reading of the Government bill amending the act on the financing of the common agricultural policy, paper no. 403 (mtg no. 28).
IMPLEMENTATION OF EU LAW - UST DATABASE
 In April 2016
  • the following bills implementing EU law have been referred to the first reading [paper no.]:
    • Government bill amending the act on road transport [459],
    • Government bill amending the act on protection of health against the consequences of using tobacco and tobacco products [432],
    • Government bill amending some acts in connection with the implementation of the Directive 2014/54/EU of 16 April 2014 on measures facilitating the exercise of rights conferred on workers in the context of freedom of movement for workers [431],
    • Government bill on energy efficiency [426],
    • Government bill on the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services [408],
    • Government bill amending the act on the financing of the common agricultural policy [403],
    • Government bill amending the act on registration and protection of names and designations of agricultural products and foodstuffs and on traditional products and some other acts [385].
  • the following acts implementing EU law have been adopted [paper no.]:
    • Act of 29 April 2016 amending the act on the promotion of employment and labour market institutions, act on National Labour Inspectorate and act on implementing some European Union provisions on equal treatment [431],
    • Act of 29 April 2016 on amending the act on the financing of the common agricultural policy [403],
    • Act of 29 April 2016 amending the act on registration and protection of names and designations of agricultural products and foodstuffs and on traditional products and some other acts [385],
    • Act of 13 April 2016 amending the act on public blood service and some other acts [294],
    •  Act of 13 April 2016 amending the act on explosives for civil uses and some other acts [275],
    • Act of 13 April 2016 on conformity assessment systems and market surveillance [248],
    • Act of 13 April 2016 on safety of trade of explosives precursors [217].
  • the following acts implementing EU law have been published [paper no.]:
    • Act of 13 April 2016 amending the act on explosives for civil uses and some other acts [275],
      o Act of 13 April 2016 on conformity assessment systems and market surveillance [248],
      o Act of 11 March 2016 amending the act on identification and registration of animals [245],
      o Act of 25 February 2016 amending the act on radio and television broadcasting [203].
SUBSIDIARITY CHECK IN NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS

Subsidiarity scrutiny in April
(Information from IPEX database as of 02.05.2016)

Draft legislative act Deadlinbe for subsidiarity scrutiny Adoption / transmission of reasoned opinion Chamber / parliament (country)
COM(2016) 007 12.04.2016 - -
COM(2016) 056 12.04.2016 - -
COM(2016) 057 12.04.2016  - -
COM(2016) 053 *
20.04.2016  - / 19.04.2016 House of Representatives (Malta)
15.04.2016 / 19.04.2016 Assembly of the Republic (Portugal)
COM(2016) 067 26.04.2016  -  -
COM(2016) 052 * 27.04.2016 - -
COM(2016) 113 02.05.2016  - -
COM(2016) 106 10.05.2016  -  -
COM(2016) 107 10.05.2016  - -
COM(2016) 128
10.05.2016  27.05.2016 / -  Senate (Czech Republic)
31.03.2016 / - Chamber of Deputies (Czech Republic)
13.04.2016 / 20.04.2016 Sejm (Poland)
13.04.2016 / - Chamber of Deputies (Romania)
COM(2016) 157 17.05.2016  -  -
COM(2016) 082 18.05.2016  - -
COM(2016) 159 18.05.2016  - -
COM(2016) 202 9.06.2016 - -
COM(2016) 198 16.06.2016 - -
ALL REASONED OPINIONS OF NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS IN IPEX

In April 2016, 15 draft legislative acts were subject to subsidiarity scrutiny. As of 5 April 2016, the national parliaments submitted 6 reasoned opinions on the non-compliance of the scrutinised draft acts with the subsidiarity principle.

* In March 2016 the reasoned opinions were submitted to the documents COM(2016) 052 and COM(2016) 053  - see the previous Biuletyn OIDE – March 2016.

INTERPARLIAMENTARY COOPERATION

26-27 April 2016, Štiřín, Meeting of the Presidents of Parliaments of the Visegrád Group countries
- Session I: Strenghtening of national parliaments as agreed in the EU-United Kingdom deal on February, 19th, 2016 in a view of its practical use
- Session II: Current situation in the EU, its further development
- Session III: Role of national parliaments in fighting international terrorism, including legal steps to be taken to make that fight as effective as possible while fully respecting basic human rights and freedoms

6 - 8 April 2016, Hague, Interparliamentary Conference for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy (CFSP/CSDP)
- Meeting of the Representatives of the Presidency Troika and the European Parliament
- Meeting of the heads of delegation
- Meetings of the political groups
- Opening session
- Session I: Video message by the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy / Vice-President of the European Commission, Ms Federica Mogherini
Presentation followed by debate with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mr Bert Koenders
- Session II: Presentation followed by debate with the Minister of Defence of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Ms Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and the Chief of Staff of the Netherlands, General Tom Middendorp
- Parallel workshops
Workshop A "State of play for the Global Security Strategy review"
Workshop B Foreign policy aspects of migration
Workshop C European arms exports
- Presentation of Workshop results and wrap-up
- Meeting of the troika
- Session III: Presentation followed by debate with the Deputy Secretary General of NATO, Mr Alexander Vershbow
- Session IV: Presentation followed by debate with Ms Helga Schmid, Deputy Secretary General for Political Affairs, European External Action Service (tbc)
- Adoption of conclusions and closure of meeting

3-4 April 2016, Hague, Chairpersons' Meeting on "Energy, Innovation and Circular Economy"
- Opening session
- Speeches (Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the European Commission for the Energy Union, Karmenu Vella, Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Henk Kamp, Minister for Economic Affairs of the Netherlands)
- Debata
- Information-fair on regional innovative projects organized by the Dutch decentralized authorities
- Panel debate
- Parallel sessions:
Session I: Energy Infrastructure and Security of Supply
Session II: Energy Conservation – Energy Saving Cities
Session III: Renewable Energy Sources
Session IV: Circular Economy

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

NEW ON THE OIDE WEBSITE

In the section: EU Documents in the Sejm
EU Affairs Committee (SUE) on "green" and "red" card


Following sections have been updated

Resolutions of the Sejm on EU Affairs: Resolutions of the Sejm - 8th term

EU Documents in the Sejm: Statistics about reasoned opinions and political dialogue

OIDE Notes: Reform of the EU's Court System, The EU Justice Scoreboard, European Semester - course of coordination cycle at the level of the Union and Poland (2011-2016), Digital Agenda for Europe

Polish Legal Acts: The Standing Orders of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland

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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 09.05.2016)

 BREXIT

 MIGRATION CRISIS IN EU

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EU CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES

Selected articles and papers
(available in the Sejm Library or on-line, accessed 09.05.2016)