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31 January 2018
EUROPEAN DEBATES IN THE SEJM

On 10 January 2018 the Sejm of the Republic of Poland held a debate on the current information concerning the implementation of the Cohesion Policy operational programmes financed with the European Funds in 2014-2020 (verbatim record /PL point 9).

EU DOCUMENTS IN THE SEJM
In January 2018 the EU Affairs Committee (SUE) held 6 meetings: no. 176-181. During these meetings the Committee:
  • scrutinised 102 EU documents:
    • pursuant to Art. 7(4) of the Cooperation Act – 13 EU draft legislative acts concerning i.a.: the establishment of common rules for certain types of combined transport of goods between Member States; European Monetary Fund; the seat of the European Medicines Agency,
    • pursuant to Art. 151(1) of the Sejm Standing Orders and Art. 3(2) of the Cooperation Act – 56 EC documents (12 communications, 35 reports, 1 draft joint report, 5 proposals for regulations and 3 proposals for directives) concerning i.a.: completing the Banking Union; mid-term review of the External Financing Instruments,
    • pursuant to Art. 11(1) of the Cooperation Act – EU documents, which were to be discussed by: Agriculture and Fisheries Council and Economic and Financial Affairs Council,
    • pursuant to Art. 8(2) of the Cooperation Act – 28 EU draft legal acts concerning i.a.: guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States; the economic policy of the euro area; the position to be adopted, on behalf of the EU, within the EEA Joint Committee concerning an amendment to Annex XX (Environment) to the EEA Agreement,
    • pursuant to Art. 10(2) of the Cooperation Act – 1 EU draft legislative act concerning the common system of value added tax, with regard to the obligation to respect a minimum standard rate,
  • accepted the reply from the Minister of Energy to the desideratum no. 2 regarding support for action conducive to the modification of the regulations unfavourable for Poland in the new energy package "Clean Energy for all Europeans" proposed by the EC (desideratum no. 2, mtg no. 176),
  • adopted the Committee's work programme for the period from 1 January 2018 to 30 June 2018 (mtg no. 176),
  • scrutinized information on the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council meeting held on 8 December 2017 (presented by Ministery of Energy Krzysztof Tchórzewski) (mtg no. 176),
  • scrutinized information on the results of the European Council meeting held on 14-15 December 2017 and information on the Foreign Affairs Council meeting planned for 22 January 2018 (presented by Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Konrad Szymański) (mtg no. 177),
  • met with the Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria Emil Savov Yalnazov and heard information on the programme of Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council; met with the Ambassador of the Republic of Estonia Harri Tiido and heard information on the results of the Estonian Presidency of the EU Council (mtg no. 180).

 

OPINIONS ADOPTED BY THE SUE

COM(2017) 650

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Commission Work Programme 2018

EU Affairs Committee:

  • 25.01.2018, mtg 181 – opinion no. 29
  • 29.01.2018 – transmission of the opinion to the Presidents of the EP, Council and European Commission in the framework of political dialogue

COM(2017) 692

Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EU) No 1370/2013 determining measures on fixing certain aids and refunds related to the common organisation of the markets in agricultural products, as regards the quantitative limitation for buying-in skimmed milk powder

EU Affairs Committee:

 ***

SUE together with Agriculture and Rural Development Committee:

  • held the first reading of the Deputies' draft resolution on the negotiation of the principles of the EU common agricultural policy after 2020, paper no. 2168 (SUE mtg no. 179).

***

In January 2018 information on and documents of SUE meetings no. 176-178 and 181, 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

Local Self-Government and Regional Policy Committee

  • 10.01.2018, considered the information presented by the President of the Supreme Audit Office, Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, on the results of the audit "Managing the use of EU funds for 2014-2020 as part of the Cohesion Policy" (mtg no. 183).
IMPLEMENTATION OF EU LAW - UST DATABASE

In January 2018

  • the following bills implementing EU law have been referred to the first reading [paper no.]:
    • Government bill amending the act on payment services and some other acts [2225],
    • Government bill amending the act on trading in financial instruments and some other acts [2191],
    • Government bill on electromobility and alternative fuels [2147].
  • the following acts implementing EU law have been published [paper no.]:
    • Act of 14 December 2017 amending the act on the business of insurance and reinsurance and some other acts [2068],
    • Act of 14 December 2017 amending the act on the Inspection for Environmental Protection and the Act - Environmental law [2066],
    • Act of 14 December 2017 amending the act on the tax on goods and services [2056],
    • Act of 8 December 2017 amending the Act - Code of Criminal Procedure and some other acts [1931],
    • Act of 24 November 2017 amending the act on aliens and some other acts [1780].
SUBSIDIARITY CHECK IN NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS

Subsidiarity scrutiny in January
(Information from IPEX database as of 05.02.2018)

Draft legislative act Deadline for subsidiarity
scrutiny
Adoption /
transmission of reasoned opinion
Chamber / parliament
(country)
COM(2017) 536* 11.01.2018

-

-
COM(2017) 537 05.01.2018  - -
COM(2017) 647* 11.01.2018  - -
COM(2017) 648 22.01.2018  18.01.2018 / - Riksdag
(Sweden)
COM(2017) 653 22.01.2018  - -
COM(2017)660** 11.01.2018 10.01.2018 / -

Senat
(France)

COM(2017) 706 30.01.2018  - -
COM(2017) 742 01.02.2018  - -
COM(2017) 769  14.02.2018  -
COM(2017) 772 06.02.2018  31.01.2018 / - Chamber of Deputies
(Czech Republic)
COM(2017) 783  14.02.2018
COM(2017) 825 02.02.2018  - -
COM(2017) 826 01.02.2018  - -
COM(2017) 827 02.02.2018  - -
ALL REASONED OPINIONS OF NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS IN IPEX

In January 2018, 14 draft legislative acts were subject to subsidiarity scrutiny. As of 5 February 2018, the national parliaments submitted 3 reasoned opinions on the non-compliance of the scrutinised draft acts with the subsidiarity principle.
* In December 2017 the reasoned opinions were submitted to the documents COM(2017) 536 and COM(2017) 647 - see the previous Biuletyn OIDE, December 2017.

** Biuletyn OIDE of 31 December 2017 contained information - based on the data from IPEX as of 02.01.2018 - on reasoned opinion adopted by French Senate to the document COM(2017) 660. According to new data on IPEX, as of 05.02.2018, the opinion was adopted in January 2018, not in December 2017.

INTERPARLIAMENTARY COOPERATION

24 January 2018, Brussels, Interparliamentary Committee Meeting on “The European Agenda on Migration. What about Legal Avenues and Integration?”

  • Opening remarks
  • 1st session The European Agenda for Migration - Legal avenues and integration two years on
  • 2nd session - Legal avenues for international protection
  • 3rd session - Labour migration and family reunification
  • 4th session - Integration - opportunities and challenges

21-22 January 2018, Sofia, Meeting of the Chairpersons of COSAC

  • Meeting of the Presidential Troika of COSAC
  • Opening of the meeting
  • Procedural issues and miscellaneous matters
    • Briefing on the results of the Presidential Troika of COSAC
    • Draft agenda of the LIX COSAC
    • Outline of the 29th Bi-Annual Report of COSAC
    • Letters received by the Presidency
    • Procedural issues
  • Session 1: Priorities of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU, debate
  • Session 2: The future of the European Union – Strength in Unity, debate
  • Session 3: The role of EU macro-regional strategies for sustainable development, stability and security, debate
  • Closing remarks
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
New books in the Sejm Library Przegląd Sejmowy Kronika Sejmowa (EN)

NEW ON THE OIDE WEBSITE

Following sections have been updated:

OIDE Notes: Brexit - documents; Statute and funding of European political parties; European Parliament on EU's future; European Public Prosecutor's Office

Important Parliamentary Debates: Debate on the state of the Union and Commission Work Programme

Bibliographies: BREXIT – selected publications (since 2016); The national parliaments’ position in the EU under the Lisbon Treaty

Polish Legal Acts: The Standing Orders of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland

 

LATEST DEBATES - COMMENTS

Selected articles on the current political and economic issues in the EU from the specialist periodicals available on-line (accessed 05.02.2018)

BREXIT

EU CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES

Selected articles and papers
(available in the Sejm Library or on-line, accessed 05.02.2018)

  • Bartolini S.: Recent Developments of the Court of Justice of the EU's Activities in 2017, „European Public Law" iss. 1, (2018) 24, s. 11.
  • Butler G.: The Coming of Age of the Court's Jurisdiction in the Common Foreign and Security Policy, „European Constitutional Law Review", Vol. 13, Issue 4, 2017, s. 673.
  • Dragos D., Neamtu B.: Freedom of Information in the EU in the midst of Legal Rules, Jurisprudence and Ombudsprudence: the European Ombudsman as Developer of Norms of Good Administration, „European Constitutional Law Review", Vol. 13, Issue 4, 2017, s. 641.
  • Jiménez L. A.: Constitutional Empathy and Judicial Dialogue in the European Union, „European Public Law" iss. 1, (2018) 24, s. 57.
  • Klamert M.: The Autonomy of the EU (and of EU Law): Through the Kaleidoscope, „European Law Review" iss. 6 (2017), s. 815.
  • Kreilinger V.: A more democratic European Union propositions and scope for political action, „Policy paper", Jacques Delors Institut, 05.01.2018.
  • Lađić T.: The Impact of European Integration on the Westphalian Concept of National Sovereignty, „ZEI Discussion Paper" 2018, C 246.
  • Lowe S.P.: The Commission's powers to enforce the law: And to propose changes to it, „European Law Review" iss. 6 (2017), s. 909.
  • Vos E.: The EU ́s political and constitutional system EU agencies on the move: challenges ahead, Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies (SIEPS), January 2018.