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30 June 2015
EU DOCUMENTS IN THE SEJM

In June 2015 the EU Affairs Committee (SUE) held 5 meetings: no. 338-345. During these meetings the Committee:

  • scrutinised 102 EU documents:
    • pursuant to Art. 7(4) of the Cooperation Act – 3 EU draft legislative acts: concerning the possibility for the Member States to restrict or prohibit the use of genetically modified food and feed on their territory, draft amending budget to the General budget for 2015 and concerning the implementation of the bilateral safeguard clause and the stabilisation mechanism for bananas of the trade agreements with Colombia and Peru, and Central America,
    • pursuant to Art. 151(1) of the Sejm Standing Orders and Art. 3(2) of the Cooperation Act – 25 European Commission documents (14 reports, 8 communications, 2 joint communications and 1 green paper) concerning i.a. European agenda on migration, application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in 2014, reviewing the decision-making process on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or building a Capital Markets Union (green paper),
    • pursuant to Art. 11(1) of the Cooperation Act – EU documents, which were to be discussed by Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council, Environment Council, Agriculture and Fisheries Council and Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council,
    • pursuant to Art. 8(2) of the Cooperation Act – 18 EU draft legal acts and 29 recommendations concerning i.a. the mobilisation of the EU Solidarity Fund to provide for payment of advances in the 2016 budget, National Reform Programmes and Stability or Convergence Programmes for 2015 from different Member States or approving the macroeconomic adjustment programme for Cyprus,
  • adopted desideratum no. 4 addressed to the Prime Minister on the communication COM(2015) 44: A Global Partnership for Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Development after 2015 (mtg no. 342)
  • examined and adopted positive opinion within the scope of the Committee competence (mtg no. 342):
    • for the Public Finance Committee on the report on implementation of the state budget for 01.01.2014 - 31.12.2014 together with the analysis of the Supreme Audit Office (opinion no. 65),
    • for the State Audit Committee on the report of activities of the Supreme Audit Office in 2014 (opinion no. 66),
  • considered reply of the Government Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment to the desideratum no. 3 of 4.12.2014 addressed to the Prime Minister on the document COM(2008) 426: Proposal for a Council Directive on implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation (mtg no. 341).

SUE together with Agriculture and Rural Development Committee:

  • considered the report of the special committee on the deputies' draft act on shaping the agricultural system and amending some other acts (paper no. 3109, mtg no. 343 and 344),
  • considered amendments put forward during the second reading of the mentioned above draft act (papers no. 3109 and 3533, mtg no. 345).

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In June 2015 information on and documents of SUE meetings no. 338-342, 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

 Agriculture and Rural Development Committee

  • 25.06.2015, considered the Government's bill on supporting sustainable development of the fisheries sector with use of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, paper no. 3463 (mtg no. 268);
  • 11.06.2015, considered the information of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) on the market situation in the milk and milk products sector and on the Government actions after the abolition of milk quotas (mtg no. 263);
  • 10.06.2015, considered the information of the ARD Minister on the consequences for Polish agriculture of the agreement on the establishment of the free trade and investment partnership between the US and the EU (TTIP), considered the information of the ARD Minister on the participation in the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in April and May 2015 (mtg no. 262).
IMPLEMENTATION OF EU LAW - UST DATABASE
 In June 2015
  • the following bills implementing EU law have been referred to the first reading [paper no.]:
    • Government bill amending the act - Energy law and some other acts [3590],
    • Government bill on the macro-prudential oversight of the financial system and crisis management in the financial system [3576],
    • Government bill amending the act - Code of Civil Procedure, the act - Law on Notary and some other acts [3516],
    • Government bill amending the act on the organization of the fish market [3472],
    • Government bill amending the act on the Border Guard and some other acts [3464],
    • Government bill on the support of sustainable development of the fisheries sector with the use of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund [3463],
    • Government bill amending the act - Tax Ordinance and some other acts [3462],
    • Government bill amending the act on the Agricultural Market Agency and organization of some agricultural markets and some other acts [3524],
    • Government bill amending the act - Environmental law and some other acts [3523].
  • the following acts implementing EU law have been adopted [paper no.]:
    • Act of 25 June 2015 amending the act on Maritime Safety Act and some other acts [3369],
    • Act of 25 June 2015 amending the act - Labour Code and some other acts [3321],
    • Act of 25 June 2015 on infertility treatment [3245],
    • Act of 25 June 2015 amending the act on the functioning of cooperative banks, their affiliations and affiliated banks and some other acts [3150],
    • Act of 25 June 2015 amending the act on construction products, act - Construction law and act amending the act on construction products and act on compatibility assessment [2493],
    • Act of 25 June 2015 on infertility treatment [608],
    • Act of 12 June 2015 amending the act on accounting and some other acts [3352],
    • Act of 12 June 2015 amending the act - Industrial Property Law and some other acts [3249],
    • Act of 12 June 2015 on scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading [3151].
  • the following act implementing EU law has been published [paper no.]:
    • Act of 15 May 2015 on substances that deplete the ozone layer and on certain fluorinated greenhouse gases [3106].
SUBSIDIARITY CHECK IN NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS

Subsidiarity scrutiny in June
(Information from IPEX database as of 03.07.2015)

Draft legislative act Deadline for subsidiarity scrutiny Adoption / transmission of reasoned opinion Chamber / parliament (country)
COM(2015)174 18.06.2015 - -
COM(2015)177 23.06.2015 16.06.2015/16.06.2015 Cortes Generales (Spain)
- / 17.06.2015 House of Representatives (Netherlands)
ALL REASONED OPINIONS OF NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS IN IPEX
In June 2015 2 draft legislative acts were subject to subsidiarity scrutiny. As of 3 July 2015, the national parliaments submitted 2 reasoned opinions on the non-compliance of the scrutinised draft acts with the subsidiarity principle.
INTERPARLIAMENTARY COOPERATION

17 June 2015, Brussels, Interparliamentary Committee Meeting on "Aggressive tax planning and democratic control: role of parliaments"
- Introductory remarks by Alain Lamassoure, Chair
- Introductory speeches by Heinz Zourek, Director General of DG Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission and Pascal Saint-Amans, Director of OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration
- Exchange of views with Members of EU National Parliaments
- Concluding remarks by Elisa Ferreira and Michael Theurer, Co-Rapporteurs
- Concluding remarks by Alain Lamassoure, Chair

31 May – 2 June 2015, Riga, Plenary Meeting of the LIII COSAC
- Procedural matters of the LIII COSAC
- State of play of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union
- European Union Energy Policy: state of play, challenges and opportunities
- Dealing with the security concerns in the Middle East and North African Region
- EU Trade Policy for the next five years: focus on the EU-US TTIP negotiations
- Informal morning session - EU Passenger Name Record proposal: taking stock
- Future of the parliamentary scrutiny of the European Union affairs (National Parliaments' involvement in EU decision-making: state of play and overview of existing instruments; green card: towards an enhanced political dialogue; the European Commission's Multiannual Work Programme and the role of parliaments)
- Adoption of the Contributions of the Plenary Meeting of the LIII COSAC

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

ON THE OIDE WEBSITE

Following sections have been updated

OIDE Notes : EU Data Protection Reform, Digital Agenda for Europe, TTIP - Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

Bibliographies: The national parliaments' position in the EU under the Lisbon Treaty, National parliaments in the EU - new publications

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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 06.07.2015)