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30 November 2015
EU DOCUMENTS IN THE SEJM 

In November 2015 the EU Affairs Committee (SUE) held 4 meetings: no. 1-4. During these meetings the Committee:

  • elected the Bureau of the Committee (mtg no. 1),
  • scrutinised 76 EU documents:
    • pursuant to Art. 7(4) of the Cooperation Act – 6 EU draft legislative acts concerning i.a. amending budget to the general budget 2015, the introduction of emergency autonomous trade measures for the Republic of Tunisia or updating of the estimated needs for agricultural expenditure and fisheries,
    • pursuant to Art. 151(1) of the Sejm Standing Orders and Art. 3(2) of the Cooperation Act – 30 European Commission documents (21 reports, 8 communications and 1 recommendation) concerning i.a. forecasts of commitments, payments and contributions from Member States to European Development Found for 2015-2019, the appropriateness of the development of a European creditworthiness assessment for sovereign debt or managing the refugee crisis: state of play of the implementation of the priority actions under the European Agenda on Migration,
    • pursuant to Art. 11(1) of the Cooperation Act – EU documents, which were to be discussed by Telecommunications and Energy Council and Justice and Home Affairs Council,
    • pursuant to Art. 8(2) of the Cooperation Act – 27 EU draft legal acts concerning i.a. the financial contributions to be paid by Member States to finance the European Development Fund, the conclusion of the Air Transport Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the United States of America, of the other part or the mobilisation of the flexibility instrument for immediate budgetary measures under the European Agenda on Migration,
  • held the first reading of Deputies' draft resolution on the Poland's migration policy at the European Union forum (paper no. 18, mtg no. 4).

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In November 2015 information on and documents of SUE meetings no. 2-4, 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

  • 25.11.2015, the Committee heard the information of the President of Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture on the paper sent to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development concerning clarification of the date of commencement of direct payments for 2015 (mtg no. 2).
IMPLEMENTATION OF EU LAW - UST DATABASE

In November 2015 the following acts implementing EU law have been published [paper no.]:

  • Act of 9 October 2015 amending the act on payment periods in commercial transactions, the act – Civil Code and some other acts [3760],
  • Act of 9 October 2015 amending the act on personal income tax, act on corporate income tax and some other acts [3697],
  • Act of 9 October 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 9 October 2015 on biocidal products [3670],
  • Act of 9 October 2015 amending the Act - Penal Code and some other acts [3659],
  • Act of 11 September 2015 amending the act on medical products and some other acts [3764],
  • Act of 11 September 2015 amending the act on a European grouping of territorial cooperation [3762],
  • Act of 11 September 2015 on insurance and reinsurance activity [3644].
SUBSIDIARITY CHECK IN NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS

Subsidiarity scrutiny in November
(Information from IPEX database as of 07.12.2015)

Draft legislative act Deadline for subsidiarity scrutiny Adoption / transmission of reasoned opinion Chamber / parliament (country)
COM(2015) 450* 09.11.2015 03.11.2015 / 04.11.2015 National Assembly (Hungary)
- / 04.11.2015 Chamber of Deputies (Romania)
- / 30.09.2015 National Council (Slovakia)
COM(2015) 452 09.11.2015 - -
COM(2015) 472 08.12.2015 - -
COM(2015) 473 08.12.2015 - -
COM(2015) 496 14.01.2016 - -
COM(2015) 701 25.01.2016 - -
ALL REASONED OPINIONS OF NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS IN IPEX

In November 2015, 6 draft legislative acts were subject to subsidiarity scrutiny. As of 7 December 2015, the national parliaments submitted 2 reasoned opinions on the non-compliance of the scrutinised draft acts with the subsidiarity principle. The table includes the opinion adopted in September 2015 but published in IPEX database in November 2015.

* In September and October 2015 to the document COM(2015) 450 three reasoned opinions were submitted - see the previous Biuletyn OIDE - September, October.

INTERPARLIAMENTARY COOPERATION

29 November - 1 December 2015, Luxembourg, LIV COSAC
- Meeting of the Presidential Troika of COSAC
- Meetings of political groups
- Opening of the meeting, adoption of the agenda, procedural issues
- Session I: European Agenda on Migration (common asylum policy and legal migration policy, fight against irregular migration and securing Europe's external borders)
- Informal lunch session on the current negotiations on EU reform ahead of the referendum on UK membership (on request of the UK delegation)
- Session II: Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe
- Meeting of COSAC Chairpersons (appointment of the permanent member of the COSAC Secretariat for 2016 and 2017, debate on the Draft Contribution and Draft Conclusions of the LIV COSAC)
- Session III: Enlargement policy
- Adoption of the Contribution and Conclusions of the LIV COSAC

19 November 2015, Brussels, Interparliamentary committee meeting on "The future institutional evolution of the Union. Enhancing political dialogue between EP and National Parliaments and reinforcing the scrutiny over the executive at European level"
- The future institutional evolution of the Union
- Reinforcing the parliamentary scrutiny of the EU governance

10 November 2015, Brussels, Interparliamentary committee meeting on "Migration through Western Balkans, proxy wars in the EU's neighbourhood and the Middle East Peace Process"
- Exchange of views on migration through the Western Balkans
- Exchange of views with Fernando Gentilini, EU Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process
- Public hearing and exchange of views on proxy wars in the EU neighbourhood (Iran, Saudi Arabia and Russia foreign policies: political and security impacts in conflict zones)

9-10 November 2015, Luxembourg, Interparliamentary Conference on Stability, Economic Coordination and Governance in the European Union
- Plenary session: The social dimension of economic governance, parliamentary scrutiny of the European Economic Governance
- Plenary session: Fair Tax Competition, growth and the Economic and Monetary Union
- Session limited to the Heads of Delegation: Adoption of the Rules of Procedure of the Conference

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

NEW ON THE OIDE WEBSITE

In the section Interparliamentary Cooperation

Calendar of parliamentary events 2016

 In the section OIDE Notes

Reform of the EU's Court System

Following sections have been updated 

OIDE Notes: EU programme on migration and refugees, Green and White Papers, European Semester - course of coordination cycle at the level of the Union and Poland (2011-2016), Banking union

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

Polish Legal Acts Relating to Poland's Membership of the European Union: Standing Orders of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland has been updated

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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 07.12.2015)

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