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30 September 2015
EUROPEAN DEBATES IN THE SEJM
On 16 September 2015 the Sejm heard the information of the Prime Minister on migration crisis in Europe and its repercussions for Poland and held the debate (verbatim record/PL). On next meeting, 25 September 2015, the Sejm accepted the information.
EU DOCUMENTS IN THE SEJM

In September 2015 the EU Affairs Committee (SUE) held 5 meetings: no. 355-359. During these meetings the Committee:

  • scrutinised 67 EU documents:
    • pursuant to Art. 151(1) of the Sejm Standing Orders and Art. 3(2) of the Cooperation Act – 33 European Commission documents (21 reports, 10 communications, 1 draft decision and 1 joint draft decision) concerning i.a. indication of labelling and standard product information, the consumption of energy and other resources by energy-related products, delivering a new deal for energy consumers or interinstitutional agreement on better regulation,
    • pursuant to Art. 151(1) of the Sejm Standing Orders – 3 draft legislative acts concerning specific measures for Greece, additional customs duties on imports of certain products originating in the United States of America and framework for energy efficiency labelling, and 1 draft amending budget to the 2015 general budget,
    • pursuant to Art. 11(1) of the Cooperation Act – EU documents, which were to be discussed by Environment Council, Economic and Financial Affairs Council, Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council and Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council,
    • pursuant to Art. 8(2) of the Cooperation Act – 20 EU draft legal acts concerning i.a. opening and providing for the management of autonomous Union tariff quotas for certain fishery products for the period 2016 to 2018, mobilisation of the EU Solidarity Fund or signing, on behalf of the EU, of the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism,
  • considered information on legislative proceedings relating to the implementation of EU directives for which the transposition deadline has expired or will expire within the next three months (as of 20.08.2015), presented by the representatives of appropriate ministries (mtg no. 359).

SUE together with Internal Affairs Committee (mtg no. 357)

  • considered and issued a positive opinion on SLD Deputies' Club's proposal for "Government's information on Poland's preparations for the growing crisis associated with the wave of refugees in Europe" to be presented at the meeting of the Sejm by the Prime Minister.

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In September 2015 information on and documents of SUE meetings no. 355, 356 and 358, 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

Infrastructure Committee

  • 24.09.2015, took note of the „Information of the Minister of Infrastructure and Development on the method of conducting a tender procedures by the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways on the selection of contractors for the construction of expressways, co-financed from the EU budget in the financial perspective 2014-2020 (mtg no. 402);

Agriculture and Rural Development Committee

  • 23.09.2015, considered the information of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) on the adopted package (worth 500 million euros) for the EU-28 to support European farmers (in terms of cash flows, stabilization of markets and tsupply chain), including the Polish position on this package (mtg no. 287);
  • 09.09.2015, held the first reading and considered the Government bill amending the act on the groups of agricultural producers and their associations and on supporting rural development including resources of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (for 2014-2020), paper no. 3836; heard the information of the ARD Minister on the participation in the activities of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in September 2015 and on changing the principles of redistribution of funds from the Common Agricultural Policy to Local Development Strategies for each voivodship in the light of the letter sent by the Marshal of the Podlaskie Voivodeship (mtg no. 283);
IMPLEMENTATION OF EU LAW - UST DATABASE

 In September 2015

  • the following acts implementing EU law have been adopted [paper no.]:
    • Act of 11 September 2015 amending the act on medical devices and some other acts [3764],
    • Act of 11 September 2015 amending the act on a European grouping of territorial cooperation [3762],
    • Act of of 11 September 2015 amending the act on payment periods in commercial transactions, the act – Civil Code and some other acts [3760],
    • Act of 11 September 2015 amending the act on inland water shipping [3747],
    • Act of 11 September 2015 amending the act on personal income tax, act on corporate income tax and some other acts [3697],
    • Ustawa Act of 11 September 2015 amending the act on providing information on the environment and environmental protection, public participation in environmental protection and on environmental impact assessment and some other acts [3677],
    • Act of 11 September 2015 on biocidal products [3670],
    • Act of 11 September 2015 amending the Act - Penal Code and some other acts [3659],
    • Ustawa Act of 11 September 2015 amending the act - Energy law and some other acts [3590],
    • Act of 11 September 2015 on insurance and reinsurance activity [3644],
    • Act of 10 September 2015 amending the act - Tax Ordinance and some other acts [3462],
    • Act of 11 September 2015 amending the act on copyright and related rights and the act on gambling [3449],
    • Act of 10 September 2015 amending the act on protection of foreigners on the territory of the Republic of Poland and some other acts [3433],
    • Act of 11 September 2015 amending the act on rail transport and the act on public transport [3427],
    • Act of 11 September 2015 on waste electrical and electronic equipment [3244].
  • the following acts implementing EU law have been published [paper no.]:
    • Act of 24 July 2015 amending the act on maritime safety and some other acts [3369],
    • Act of 23 July 2015 amending the act - Environmental law and some other actsw [3523],
    • Act of 23 July 2015 amending the act on accounting and some other acts [3352],
    • Act of 10 July 2015 amending the act on the Agricultural Market Agency and organization of some agricultural markets and some other acts [3524],
    • Act of 10 July 2015 on the support of sustainable development of the fisheries sector with the use of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund [3463],
    • Act of 9 July 2015 amending the act on the Border Guard and some other acts [3464].
    SUBSIDIARITY CHECK IN NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS

    Subsidiarity scrutiny in September
    (Information from IPEX database as of 06.10.2015)

    Draft legislative act Deadline for subsidiarity scrutiny Adoption / transmission of reasoned opinion Chamber / parliament (country)
    COM(2015)303 21.09.2015 - -
    COM(2015)365 19.10.2015 - -
    COM(2015)341 19.10.2015 - -
    COM(2015) 337 28.10.2015 - -
    COM(2015) 450 09.11.2015 30.09.2015 / 30.09.2015 Rada Narodowa (Słowacja)
    COM(2015) 452 09.11.2015 - -
    ALL REASONED OPINIONS OF NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS IN IPEX
    In September 2015, 6 draft legislative acts were subject to subsidiarity scrutiny. As of 6 October 2015, the national parliaments submitted 1 reasoned opinion on the non-compliance of the scrutinised draft acts with the subsidiarity principle.
    INTERPARLIAMENTARY COOPERATION

    15 September 2015, Brussels, Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) meeting
    European Semester for economic policy coordination: implementation of 2015 priorities (an exchange of views with national Parliaments)

     

    23 September 2015, Brussels, Interparliamentary Committee Meeting on "The situation in the Mediterranean and the need for a holistic approach to migration"
    - The role of Justice and Home Affairs Agencies in the "hot spot" concept
    - Addressing migration at the national and local level

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

    ON THE OIDE WEBSITE

    Following sections have been updated

    Important Parliamentary Debates: Reform of the European electoral law

    OIDE Notes: EU development agenda after 2015, EU programme on migration and refugees, EU Strategic Framework on Human Rights and Democracy

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

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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 07.10.2015)