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31 December 2014
EUROPEAN DEBATES IN THE SEJM

5 December 2014 - the Sejm adopted the statute granting consent for ratification by the President of the Republic of Poland of the Association Agreement between the EU, EAEC and their Member States, and the Republic of Moldova (Legislative process /PL).

4 December 2014 - the Sejm held a debate on the report of EU Affairs Committee and Foreign Affaires Committee on Govenment bill on the ratification of the Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Moldova, of the other part, drawn up at Brussels on 27 June 2014 (papers no. 2858 and 2924, verbatim record /PL point 19).

EU DOCUMENTS IN THE SEJM

In December 2014 the EU Affairs Committee (SUE) held 6 meetings: no. 303-308. During these meetings the Committee:

  • scrutinised 63 EU documents:
    • pursuant to Art. 7(4) of the Cooperation Act – 2 EU draft legislative acts: concerning amended regulation on the system of the European Communities' own resources and concerning imports of certain textile products from third countries,
    • pursuant to Art. 151(1) of the Sejm Standing Orders and Art. 3(2) of the Cooperation Act – 6 European Commission documents (3 reports and 3 communications) concerning i.a. progress towards completing the internal energy market, short term resilience of the European gas system and EU budget to end 2013,
    • pursuant to Art. 11(1) of the Cooperation Act – EU documents which were to be discussed by Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council, Justice and Home Affairs Council, Economic and Financial Affairs Council, Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council, Agriculture and Fisheries Council and Environment Council,
    • pursuant to Art. 8(2) of the Cooperation Act – 14 EU draft legal acts concerning i.a. the management of autonomous tariff quotas of the Union for certain agricultural and industrial products, the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund and the autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties on certain agricultural and industrial products,
  • heard information on the annual report of the European Court of Auditors concerning implementation of the EU budget in 2013 presented by Augustyn Kubik, ECoA Member (mtg no. 303),
  • adopted desideratum No. 3 on reconsideration of the Republic of Poland's position on COM(2008) 426, adressed to the Prime Minister (mtg no. 306),
  • considered and rejected a draft desideratum to the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the lack of support for the planned arrangements of the Foreign Affairs Council for 'reproductive and sexual rights' (mtg no. 306),
  • adopted action plan of the EU Affairs Committee for 1 January – 31 July 2015 (mtg no. 308).

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In December 2014 information on and documents of SUE meetings no. 303-308, 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

State Audit Committee

  • 4.12.2014, considered the information of Supreme Audit Office on the results of the control of sustainability of the projects co-financed from the Structural Founds, based on the selected regional operational programs.

Physical Culture, Sport and Tourism Committee

  • 4.12.2014, considered the information of the Sport and Tourism Minister on the EU work programme in the area of sport and tourism for 2014-2020,
  • 18.12.2014, heard the information of the Sport and Tourism Minister on the proposal for a directive on package travel and assisted travel arrangements.

Agriculture and Rural Development Committee

  • 18.12.2014, heard the information of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development on the participation in the activities of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in November 2014.
IMPLEMENTATION OF EU LAW - UST DATABASE
 In December 2014
  • the following bills implementing EU law have been referred to the first reading [papers no.]:
    • Government bill amending the act on recycling of end-of-life vehicles and some other acts [3033],
    • Government bill amending the act on road transport and some other acts [2959].
  • the following acts implementing EU law have been adopted [paper no.]:
    • Act of 19 December 2014 on sea fisheries [2919],
    • Act of 19 December 2014 on the protection of animals used for scientific and educational purposes [2709],
    • Act of 19 December 2014 amending the act – Pharmaceutical Law and the act on counteracting drug addiction [2708],
    • Act of 17 December 2014 amending the act on biofuel components and liquid biofuels and some other acts [2930],
    • Act of 5 December 2014 amending the act - Code of Civil Procedure and the act on court costs in civil cases [2847],
    • Act of 5 December 2014 amending the act on trading in financial instruments and some other acts [2734].
  • the following acts implementing EU law have been published [paper no.]:
    • Act of 28 November 2014 amending the act on vocational and social rehabilitation and employment of disabled persons [2853],
    • Act of 7 November 2014 amending the act on commercial quality of agricultural and food products and the act on the safety of food and nutrition [2683].
SUBSIDIARITY CHECK IN NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS

Subsidiarity scrutiny in December
(Information from IPEX database as of 09.01.2015)

Draft legislative act Deadline for subsidiarity scrutiny Adoption / transmission of reasoned opinion Chamber / parliament (country)
COM(2014) 666 25.12.2014 - -
COM(2014) 713 27.01.2015 - -
COM(2014) 714 27.01.2015 - -
COM(2014) 715 27.01.2015 - -
COM(2015) 724 4.02.2015 - -
ALL REASONED OPINIONS OF NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS IN IPEX
In December 2014 5 draft legislative acts were subject to subsidiarity scrutiny. As of 9 January 2015, the national parliaments submitted no reasoned opinions on the non-compliance of these draft acts with the subsidiarity principle.
INTERPARLIAMENTARY COOPERATION
30 November – 2 December 2014, Rome, LII Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC)
- Opening of the LII COSAC
- State of play of the Italian Presidency of the EU Council
- The future of supranational democracy 5 years after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty: What role for European institutions and national Parliaments?
- Review of the Europe 2020 Strategy: growth, employment, competitiveness
- European integration prospects: Global role of the European Union and projection of its policies in the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe
- Democratic control of European agencies
- Adoption of the Contribution and Conclusions of the LII COSAC
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
New books in the Sejm Library Przegląd Sejmowy Kronika Sejmowa (EN)

ON THE OIDE WEBSITE

In the section Multilateral Parliamentary Cooperation

New version of the draft Rules of Procedure of the Interparliamentary Conference under Article 13 of the Fiscal Compact / Interparliamentary Conference on Stability, Economic Coordination and Governance in the European Union was published (EN, as of 18 December 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 09.01.2015)