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30 November 2016
EU DOCUMENTS IN THE SEJM

In November 2016 the EU Affairs Committee (SUE) held 6 meetings: no. 93-98. During these meetings the Committee:

  • scrutinised 122 EU documents:
    • pursuant to Art. 7(4) of the Cooperation Act – 19 EU draft legislative acts concerning i.a. common framework for the provision of better services for skills and qualifications (Europass), multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020 or the promotion of Internet connectivity in local communities,
    • pursuant to Art. 151(1) of the Sejm Standing Orders and Art. 3(2) of the Cooperation Act – 31 EC documents (20 reports, 10 communications and 1 joint communication) concerning i.a. the progress made in the implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement, EIB external activity with EU budgetary guarantee in 2015 or the EU trade policy,
    • pursuant to Art. 11(1) of the Cooperation Act – EU documents, which were to be discussed by General Affairs Council, Economic and Financial Affairs Council, Agriculture and Fisheries Council, Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council, Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council and Competitiveness Council,
    • pursuant to Art. 8(2) of the Cooperation Act – 40 EU draft legal acts concerning i.a. Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory Transparency Register, the mobilisation of the Contingency Margin in 2016 or the fishing opportunities for Union fishing vessels for certain deep-sea fish stocks,
  • examined and adopted positive opinion intended for the Public Finance Committee on the draft budget act for 2017 within the scope of the Committee competence (mtg no. 94),
  • together with Administration and Internal Affairs Committee examined committee draft resolution on the proposal for establishment of an EU correction mechanism for the allocation of refugees and financial solidarity mechanism (paper no. 894, mtg no. 95).

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In November 2016 information on and documents of SUE meetings no. 93-98, 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

Energy and State Treasury Committee

  • 30.11.2016, took note i.a. of the information of the Minister of Energy on the progress of the process of notification to the European Commission (EC) regarding restructuring coal mining (in particular: responsibility for the notification process on behalf of government; entities that are covered by the notification process, schedule of activities of the Minister of Energy and the EC in this respect) (mtg no. 44);

Petitions Committee

  • 15.11.2016, considered the reply to the desideratum no. 7 on the Poland's complaints to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for infringement of the rights of Polish families outside Poland (mtg no. 43);

Agriculture and Rural Development Committee

  • 15.11.2016, held the first reading and considered the Government bill amending the act on supporting rural development including resources of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development under the Rural Development Programme (RDP) for 2014-2020 and some other acts, paper no. 972 (mtg no. 92);
  • 16.11.2016, considered the amendment tabled during the second reading of the bill amending the act on supporting rural development including resources of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development under the RDP for 2014-2020 and some other acts, papers no. 972 and 1019 (mtg no. 97).
IMPLEMENTATION OF EU LAW - UST DATABASE
 In November 2016
  • the following bills implementing EU law have been referred to the first reading [paper no.]:
    • Government bill amending the act on accounting [1045],
    • Government bill amending the act on seeds and the act on plant protection [1043],
  • the following acts implementing EU law have been published [paper no.]:
    • Act of 04 November 2016 amending the act on road transport [459],
    • Act of 16 November 2016 amending the act on rail transport and some other acts [840], 
    • Act of 23 September 2016 on extra-judicial consumer disputes [630],
    • Act of 21 October 2016 on concession agreements for construction works or services [612].
SUBSIDIARITY CHECK IN NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS

Subsidiarity scrutiny in November
(Information from IPEX database as of 07.12.2016)

Draft legislative act Deadline for subsidiarity scrutiny Adoption / transmission of reasoned opinion Chamber / parliament (country)
COM(2016) 491 * 03.11.2016 - / 01.11.2016 House of Commons (United Kingdom)
COM(2016) 557 03.11.2016 - -
COM(2016) 467 04.11.2016 - -
COM(2016) 465 * 10.11.2016 - -
COM(2016) 597 11.11.2016 - -
 COM(2016) 582 30.11.2016  - -
COM(2016) 589 30.11.2016  - / 30.11.2016 Riksdag (Sweden)
 COM(2016) 593 30.11.2016  - -
 COM(2016) 594 30.11.2016 - -
COM(2016) 596 30.11.2016  - -
COM(2016) 625 30.11.2016 -
-
 COM(2016) 591 12.12.2016  10.11.2016 / 17.11.2016 Senate (France)
 COM(2016) 586 19.12.2016 - -
 COM(2016) 590 19.12.2016  - -
 COM(2016) 662 20.12.2016 - -
COM(2016) 683 03.01.2016 - -
COM(2016) 686 03.01.2016 - -
COM(2016) 687 03.01.2016 - -
COM(2016) 709 10.01.2016 - -
ALL REASONED OPINIONS OF NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS IN IPEX

In November 2016, 20 draft legislative acts were subject to subsidiarity scrutiny. As of 7 December 2016, the national parliaments submitted 3 reasoned opinions on the non-compliance of the scrutinised draft acts with the subsidiarity principle.

* In October 2016 to the documents COM(2016) 465 and COM(2016) 491 reasoned opinions were submitted - see the previous Biuletyn OIDE – October 2016.

INTERPARLIAMENTARY COOPERATION

29 November 2016, Brussels, Interparliamentary Committee Meeting on "The European Parliament's right of inquiry, the revision of the EU electoral law, the future institutional evolution of the European Union"
- Opening remarks
- The European Parliament's Right of Inquiry
- The revision of the EU Electoral Law
- The future institutional evolution of the European Union
- What constitutional paths for the future development of the European Union?
- Closing remarks

29 November 2016, Brussels, Lunch Debate with National Parliaments on CETA
- Welcome and opening remarks
- Current state of play and next steps regarding CETA in the European Parliament
- Discussion with Members of National Parliaments on the content of the agreement and future ratification process
- Concluding remarks

28 November 2016, Brussels, Interparliamentary Committee Meeting on "Europol and its parliamentary scrutiny in the framework of EU internal security policies"
- Introductory remarks
- Session I: Setting the scene - making the Security Union a reality and the role of Europol therein: operational cooperation, information sharing and trust
- Session II: Towards an effective and workable parliamentary scrutiny of Europol

13-15 November 2016, Bratislava, LVI COSAC
- Meeting of the Presidential Troika of COSAC
- Meetings of political groups
- Opening session of the LVI COSAC, welcome address, introductory remarks, adoption of the agenda, procedural issues, presentation of the 26th Bi-annual Report of COSAC
- Session 1: State of Play of the Slovak Presidency of the Council of the European Union
- Session 2: Strengthening the role of national parliaments in the EU
- Session 3: The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP): a trade agreement between the European Union and the United States (and its challenges, opportunities and risks)
- COSAC Chairpersons meeting
- Session 4: 2016: Energy Union's „year of delivery"
- Session 5: Securing the external borders of the EU in the context of irregular migration
- Adoption of the Contribution and Conclusions of the LVI COSAC

8 November 2016, Brussels, Interparliamentary Committee Meeting on "Towards better spending in shared management - a more cooperative model of parliamentary scrutiny"
- Introductory remarks
- Session I: Shared management: how to balance trust and control? The effectiveness of national management and control systems and the reliability of the data collected by the Member States
- Session II: Stop to the nonsense of "use it or lose it". Towards a more performance driven approach of spending
- Session III: A new model of cooperation between the European Union and the Member States' administrations
- Debate
- Concluding remarks

8 November 2016, Brussels, Interparliamentary Committee Meeting on "State of Play of the Common Foreign and Security Policy"
- Next steps in the implementation of the EU Global Strategy
- AFET's annual report on the CFSP

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

NEW ON THE OIDE WEBSITE

In the section OIDE Notes

European Defence Union

European Public Prosecutor's Office

Following sections have been updated

OIDE Notes: Global Strategy for the EU's Foreign and Security Policy

Important Parliamentary Debates: Debate on the state of the Union and Commission’s Work Programme for 2017

Bibliographies: BREXIT - selected publications (since 2016)

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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 08.12.2016)

  BREXIT

  TTIP

  • Bourgeois J.H.J.: Is Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership a Regional Contribution to Global Economic Governance?, „Legal Issues of Economic Integration” vol. 43 (2016), iss. 4, s. 407.
  • Fabry E.: Stopping CETA and TTIP will not stop globalisation, „Tribune”, Notre Europe - The Jacques Delors Institute, 15.11.2016.
  • Fahey E.: On the Benefits of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) Negotiations for the EU Legal Order: A Legal Perspective, „Legal Issues of Economic Integration” vol. 43 (2016), iss. 4, s. 327.
  • Gruni G.: Law or Aspiration? The European Union Proposal for a Labour Standards Clause in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, „Legal Issues of Economic Integration” vol. 43 (2016), iss. 4, s. 399.
  • Hijmans H.: The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and the Developments in the Area of Privacy and Data Protection, „Legal Issues of Economic Integration” vol. 43 (2016), iss. 4, s. 385.
  • Larik J.: Critiquing the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP): Systemic Consequences for Global Governance and the Rule of Law, „Legal Issues of Economic Integration” vol. 43 (2016), iss. 4, s. 423.
  • Ortino F.: Defining Indirect Expropriation: The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and the (Elusive) Search for ‘Greater Certainty’, „Legal Issues of Economic Integration” vol. 43 (2016), iss. 4, s. 351.
  • Takács T.: Situating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (negotiations) in European Union Common Commercial Policy, „Legal Issues of Economic Integration” vol. 43 (2016), iss. 4, s. 341.

  EU migration crisis

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EU CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES

Selected articles and papers
(available in the Sejm Library or on-line, accessed 08.12.2016)

  • Bainczyk M.: Problemy hybrydowej oceny aktów unijnego prawa pochodnego w świetle wyroku niemieckiego Federalnego Trybunału Konstytucyjnego z 21.06.2016 r. w sprawie decyzji OMT, „Europejski Przegląd Sądowy” nr. 11/2016.
  • Cardwell P.J.: Values in the European Union’s Foreign Policy: An Analysis and Assessment of CFSP Declarations, „European Foreign Affairs Review” vol. 21 (2016), iss. 4, s. 601.
  • Chamon M.: Institutional balance and Community method in the implementation of EU legislation following the Lisbon Treaty, „Common Market Law Review” vol. 53 (2016), iss. 6, s. 1501.
  • Fromage D.: Increasing Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation in the European Union: Current Trends and Challenges, „European Public Law” vol. 22 (2016), iss. 4, s. 749.
  • Govaere I.: To Give or to Grab: The Principle of Full, Crippled and Split Conferral of Powers Post-Lisbon, „European Legal Studies” no. 4/2016, November 2016.
  • Koncewicz T.T.: Of institutions, democracy, constitutional self-defence and the rule of law: The judgments of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal in Cases K 34/15, K 35/15 and beyond, „Common Market Law Review” vol. 53 (2016), iss. 6, s. 1753.
  • Peers S., Costa M.: Reassessing the Accountability of European Union Decentralized Agencies: Mind the Independence Gap, „European Public Law” vol. 22 (2016), iss. 4, s. 645.
  • Rulka M.: Unijna kontrola praworządności - uwagi de lege ferenda, "Studia Europejskie" nr 2/2016, Centrum Europejskie Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego.
  • Varju M., Papp M.: The crisis, national economic particularism and EU law: What can we learn from the Hungarian case?, „Common Market Law Review” vol. 53 (2016), iss. 6, s. 1647.
  • Verhelst S.: ‘I wouldn’t start from here’: the making of European Banking Supervision, and the road Ahead, „Egmont paper”, Royal Institute for International Relations – EGMONT, 21.11.2016.