The Polish Senate hosted the Meeting of the COSAC Chairpersons. The topics of the Meeting included the priorities of the Polish presidency and the prevention of climate change impacts from the perspective of the Union budget.
The Meeting of Chairpersons of the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC), organised at the Polish Senate on 27 January 2025, marked the launch of the parliamentary dimension of the Polish presidency of the Council of the EU. The Meeting focused on the priorities of the Polish presidency and combatting the effects of climate change from the perspective of the EU budget.
In her opening speech, the Marshal of the Senate, Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska underlined the special responsibility of parliamentarians for the future of Europe. “It is us who talk to our citizens every day. It is our duty to listen to their needs and concerns, but also to suggest bold projects which showcase the future of the European politics,” said the Marshal. She added that European parliamentarians have a double challenge to tackle: address global turmoil and garner voters’ support for an ambitious plan to build a secure Europe. The Marshal also stressed the importance of cooperation on the European level. “Faced with global powers, Europe will only be effective if we speak one voice; only then will Europe be able to show solidarity when asserting its interests,” assessed the Marshal. Regarding the expectations of citizens, she highlighted the issue of security. As she stated, we must be ready to make our defence industries and armies strong enough so that nobody would dare think they could attack Europe. “No country will achieve this effect of deterrence on its own. We have to do it together, as Europe,” she underlined. Moreover, the Marshal of the Senate pointed to the economic security of Europe. As she said, the common European market has been one of the robust global economies. “We have everything we need to make the 21st century the century of a strong Europe,” she remarked. Referring to the priorities of the Polish presidency, Marshal Kidawa-Błońska underlined that the presidency coincided with the new institutional cycle in the European Union. This offers an opportunity to discuss the priorities of the Polish presidency in conjunction with the new priorities of the European Commission and the European Parliament. In the view of the Marshal of the Senate, this will be a major challenge, especially during the negotiations of the Multiannual Financial Framework. “We have no time for weakness or lack of agency. We are facing a double challenge of addressing global turmoil and garnering our voters’ support for an ambitious plan to build a secure Europe. This is the only way we can ensure that the greatness of Europe is longstanding,” said Marshal Kidawa-Błońska.
The priorities of the Polish presidency in the Council of the European Union were presented by Adam Szłapka, Minister for European Union Affairs. As he underlined, the most important objective for our presidency is to make Europe strong and ready to act. “Europe must take responsibility for its own security, and this requires joint action,” he stressed. The parliamentary dimension of the Polish presidency, he went on to say, is inaugurated at the Senate – the first institution whose members were elected in free elections held in 1989, after 45 years of the communist rule. Szłapka also recalled that upon Poland’s accession to the EU, 21 years ago, Polish people welcomed the membership with great joy, as the dream of many generations to join the free world, had just come true. However, now we are confronted with new challenges: ensuring security for the Europeans, in broad terms. Therefore, in the light of the discussions within the EU, it is important to recall why it had come to existence in the first place. In the traumatic wake of the wars, the EU came to life as a project of peace, bringing stability and unprecedented economic growth for Europeans. We managed to create a reality which was invoked in 2014 by Ukrainians in Kyiv, united around the EU flag at the Maidan, a reality sought by Georgians who are fighting for democracy and freedom – a manifestation of the “Georgian dream.’ “However, we must remember that this reality should not be taken for granted,” Szłapka said. It requires responsibility and action, and its preservation remains a true challenge. “Without fear of grand words, we have chosen security as the motto of the Polish presidency,” the Minister underlined. He specified that it should be understood within its seven dimensions: external, internal, information, economic, energy, food, and health. Minister Szłapka mentioned external security as the first priority, stressing the need to strengthen our defence capabilities, develop our defence industry, cooperate with the US, and support warring Ukraine. Second, internal security involves the effective reinforcement of borders against illegal migration, prevention of hybrid threats, and response to natural disasters. Third, information security, understood as preventing disinformation and manipulation. Economic security comes forth. Minister Szłapka believes that we will not be able to ensure Europe’s security unless we are competitive. That is why we must adjust our approach to economy, make the energy and climate policy more flexible, focus on supporting European industry and improving our competitiveness, and finally do away with rules and ban-based policies and foster new technologies and capital promotion instead. Fifth, for energy security, we need do away with dangerous energy resource providers, and make energy more affordable and accessible to citizens, otherwise Europe’s competitiveness will not improve. Sixth, there is security understood as a competitive and resilient agriculture and a robust agricultural policy which ensures food security to citizens. The last priority of the Polish presidency is health security, i.e. ensuring safe medicine and active substance supply chains and supporting Union-based pharmaceutical production. Ending his speech, Minister Szłapka reiterated: “the European Union is a beautiful project which was the dream of generations of Europeans,” and this project must be pursued.
Participants in the debate on the Polish priorities expressed hope that Poland’s focus on security would help Europe deal with emerging challenges. The representatives of the national parliaments of Member States stressed, among other things, the need to develop rules for the financing of defence spending. They also talked about the need for new instruments to build a more resilient Europe. Further topics included the issue of “the shadow fleet”, i.e. tankers transporting Russian oil under the flags of other states in an attempt at circumventing EU sanctions, or the safety of infrastructures in the Baltic Sea. Moreover, participants, including representatives of national parliaments of candidate countries, raised the question of the EU enlargement. Ukrainian MP, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze said that Kyiv counts on for the value-based Polish presidency of the Council of the EU. She added that the response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine requires unity, political will, courage, and joint action.
“I believe that all of us have come to notice the recent sudden increase in frequency and intensity of extreme climate events and natural disasters, such as floods, hurricanes, forest fires, droughts, or oil leaks. The list goes on and on,” said Vice-Chair of the Committee on Budgets of the European Parliament, MEP Janusz Lewandowski at the second session, devoted to the political budget of the European Union, addressing climate action. As he said, all these events severely affected the economy and society across the European Union. He underlined that the EU has been striving to respond by using a climate adaptation strategy, with the aim of achieving climate resilience by 2050.
MEP Lewandowski mentioned the financial support for natural disaster response provided under the Union’s Solidarity Fund. The Union Civil Protection Mechanism streamlines prevention of and reaction to natural disasters. The Vice-Chair of the EP Committee on Budgets believes that the cohesion policy should be better used to prevent natural disasters, in particular in less developed regions in order to strengthen regional resilience. The Common Agricultural Policy, as MEP Lewandowski said, had not been developed with crisis management in mind, and, as a result, a gap exists in EU measures and funds devised to assist farmers in dealing with natural disasters. Because of extreme weather events, instruments and policies should be reinforced, especially in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). When discussing the most recent achievements, the Vice-Chair of the EP Committee on Budgets informed the participants that in October 2024, the European Commission had adopted two amendment proposals to make sure EU funds may be expeditiously channelled to cover damage caused by natural disasters: these proposals covered the Regulation on the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Cohesion Fund and the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), and the Regulation on the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). Regulation on the Regional Emergency Support to Reconstruction (RESTORE) makes advance payments and co-financing more flexible, and allows Member States to spend EU funds to restore infrastructure, provide necessary relief and to temporarily finance short-time work. It introduces two new measures under the ERDF and ESF+: higher advance payments for immediate liquidity and Union coverage of recovery costs with no co-financing required at the national level. Furthermore, up to 10% of the national cohesion policy allocation may be reprogrammed for those initiatives. As for rural development, the amendments to the Regulation on the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development provide Member States with more flexibility in providing aid in case of natural disasters. In the case of RESTORE, the maximum co-financing rate is 95%, with 25% additional advance co-financing. “Is it enough, or should it be 100 percent?” MEP Lewandowski wondered. When talking about challenges, he reiterated that when planning the EU budget, we should not forget that in 2028-58 we will need to repay € 421 billion in debt furnished during the COVID-19 pandemic through grants. We should also get ready for the enlargement. “We must help candidate countries by means of pre-accession funds,” he added.
In MEP Lewandowski’s assessment, these measures are still rather modest. He underlined that European Union’s measures could not replace actions by Member States. “For sure, we need more funds for these objectives in the Union budget,” he said. He believes that, even though the EU political framework has been evolving, the challenges still remain: timely financing (with frequent delays due to bureaucratic procedures and the need to mobilise funds more expeditiously in emergencies), administrative burden (the need for streamlined distribution of aid, making it more swift and effective), and regional disparities (the need to take into account discrepant capacities of Member Satets to implement crisis and natural disaster response and management mechanisms, in order to ensure that aid is provided to less developed regions). “When planning financial support in the event of natural disasters, we must work on prevention, react before something happens and make our citizens more aware of the risk. We should allocate 40% of our funds to green investments,” the Vice-Chair of the EP Committee on Budgets implored. “We need to make ourselves more flexible in this regard because we live in an unpredictable environment,” he added.
The Meeting of Chairpersons of the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC) at the Senate was rounded up by its chair, Tomasz Grodzki, Chair of the Senate’s European Union Affairs Committee. He stated that he would be coming out of the chamber with his head held up high as he was convinced that Europe could be a partner for everyone in the world, but never “someone’s servant or worse brother.” He reiterated that Europe comprised 450 million citizens plus the United Kingdom, and that its GDP was comparable to that of great powers. “Among others, it depends on us, parliamentarians, whether we will be able to bear the responsibility for leading Europe towards a bright, positive and optimistic future. After today’s meeting, and looking forward to the upcoming meetings under this presidency, I am convinced that history and global developments do and will mobilise us to ensure that Europe overcomes the challenges of the modern day. I am deeply convinced of that, and I believe that together, united, we will be able to do a great lot,” he said, ending the Meeting.
The Polish Senate hosted the Meeting of the COSAC Chairpersons. The topics of the Meeting included the priorities of the Polish presidency and the prevention of climate change impacts from the perspective of the Union budget.
The Meeting of Chairpersons of the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC), organised at the Polish Senate on 27 January 2025, marked the launch of the parliamentary dimension of the Polish presidency of the Council of the EU. The Meeting focused on the priorities of the Polish presidency and combatting the effects of climate change from the perspective of the EU budget.
In her opening speech, the Marshal of the Senate, Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska underlined the special responsibility of parliamentarians for the future of Europe. “It is us who talk to our citizens every day. It is our duty to listen to their needs and concerns, but also to suggest bold projects which showcase the future of the European politics,” said the Marshal. She added that European parliamentarians have a double challenge to tackle: address global turmoil and garner voters’ support for an ambitious plan to build a secure Europe. The Marshal also stressed the importance of cooperation on the European level. “Faced with global powers, Europe will only be effective if we speak one voice; only then will Europe be able to show solidarity when asserting its interests,” assessed the Marshal. Regarding the expectations of citizens, she highlighted the issue of security. As she stated, we must be ready to make our defence industries and armies strong enough so that nobody would dare think they could attack Europe. “No country will achieve this effect of deterrence on its own. We have to do it together, as Europe,” she underlined. Moreover, the Marshal of the Senate pointed to the economic security of Europe. As she said, the common European market has been one of the robust global economies. “We have everything we need to make the 21st century the century of a strong Europe,” she remarked. Referring to the priorities of the Polish presidency, Marshal Kidawa-Błońska underlined that the presidency coincided with the new institutional cycle in the European Union. This offers an opportunity to discuss the priorities of the Polish presidency in conjunction with the new priorities of the European Commission and the European Parliament. In the view of the Marshal of the Senate, this will be a major challenge, especially during the negotiations of the Multiannual Financial Framework. “We have no time for weakness or lack of agency. We are facing a double challenge of addressing global turmoil and garnering our voters’ support for an ambitious plan to build a secure Europe. This is the only way we can ensure that the greatness of Europe is longstanding,” said Marshal Kidawa-Błońska.
The priorities of the Polish presidency in the Council of the European Union were presented by Adam Szłapka, Minister for European Union Affairs. As he underlined, the most important objective for our presidency is to make Europe strong and ready to act. “Europe must take responsibility for its own security, and this requires joint action,” he stressed. The parliamentary dimension of the Polish presidency, he went on to say, is inaugurated at the Senate – the first institution whose members were elected in free elections held in 1989, after 45 years of the communist rule. Szłapka also recalled that upon Poland’s accession to the EU, 21 years ago, Polish people welcomed the membership with great joy, as the dream of many generations to join the free world, had just come true. However, now we are confronted with new challenges: ensuring security for the Europeans, in broad terms. Therefore, in the light of the discussions within the EU, it is important to recall why it had come to existence in the first place. In the traumatic wake of the wars, the EU came to life as a project of peace, bringing stability and unprecedented economic growth for Europeans. We managed to create a reality which was invoked in 2014 by Ukrainians in Kyiv, united around the EU flag at the Maidan, a reality sought by Georgians who are fighting for democracy and freedom – a manifestation of the “Georgian dream.’ “However, we must remember that this reality should not be taken for granted,” Szłapka said. It requires responsibility and action, and its preservation remains a true challenge. “Without fear of grand words, we have chosen security as the motto of the Polish presidency,” the Minister underlined. He specified that it should be understood within its seven dimensions: external, internal, information, economic, energy, food, and health. Minister Szłapka mentioned external security as the first priority, stressing the need to strengthen our defence capabilities, develop our defence industry, cooperate with the US, and support warring Ukraine. Second, internal security involves the effective reinforcement of borders against illegal migration, prevention of hybrid threats, and response to natural disasters. Third, information security, understood as preventing disinformation and manipulation. Economic security comes forth. Minister Szłapka believes that we will not be able to ensure Europe’s security unless we are competitive. That is why we must adjust our approach to economy, make the energy and climate policy more flexible, focus on supporting European industry and improving our competitiveness, and finally do away with rules and ban-based policies and foster new technologies and capital promotion instead. Fifth, for energy security, we need do away with dangerous energy resource providers, and make energy more affordable and accessible to citizens, otherwise Europe’s competitiveness will not improve. Sixth, there is security understood as a competitive and resilient agriculture and a robust agricultural policy which ensures food security to citizens. The last priority of the Polish presidency is health security, i.e. ensuring safe medicine and active substance supply chains and supporting Union-based pharmaceutical production. Ending his speech, Minister Szłapka reiterated: “the European Union is a beautiful project which was the dream of generations of Europeans,” and this project must be pursued.
Participants in the debate on the Polish priorities expressed hope that Poland’s focus on security would help Europe deal with emerging challenges. The representatives of the national parliaments of Member States stressed, among other things, the need to develop rules for the financing of defence spending. They also talked about the need for new instruments to build a more resilient Europe. Further topics included the issue of “the shadow fleet”, i.e. tankers transporting Russian oil under the flags of other states in an attempt at circumventing EU sanctions, or the safety of infrastructures in the Baltic Sea. Moreover, participants, including representatives of national parliaments of candidate countries, raised the question of the EU enlargement. Ukrainian MP, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze said that Kyiv counts on for the value-based Polish presidency of the Council of the EU. She added that the response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine requires unity, political will, courage, and joint action.
“I believe that all of us have come to notice the recent sudden increase in frequency and intensity of extreme climate events and natural disasters, such as floods, hurricanes, forest fires, droughts, or oil leaks. The list goes on and on,” said Vice-Chair of the Committee on Budgets of the European Parliament, MEP Janusz Lewandowski at the second session, devoted to the political budget of the European Union, addressing climate action. As he said, all these events severely affected the economy and society across the European Union. He underlined that the EU has been striving to respond by using a climate adaptation strategy, with the aim of achieving climate resilience by 2050.
MEP Lewandowski mentioned the financial support for natural disaster response provided under the Union’s Solidarity Fund. The Union Civil Protection Mechanism streamlines prevention of and reaction to natural disasters. The Vice-Chair of the EP Committee on Budgets believes that the cohesion policy should be better used to prevent natural disasters, in particular in less developed regions in order to strengthen regional resilience. The Common Agricultural Policy, as MEP Lewandowski said, had not been developed with crisis management in mind, and, as a result, a gap exists in EU measures and funds devised to assist farmers in dealing with natural disasters. Because of extreme weather events, instruments and policies should be reinforced, especially in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). When discussing the most recent achievements, the Vice-Chair of the EP Committee on Budgets informed the participants that in October 2024, the European Commission had adopted two amendment proposals to make sure EU funds may be expeditiously channelled to cover damage caused by natural disasters: these proposals covered the Regulation on the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Cohesion Fund and the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), and the Regulation on the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). Regulation on the Regional Emergency Support to Reconstruction (RESTORE) makes advance payments and co-financing more flexible, and allows Member States to spend EU funds to restore infrastructure, provide necessary relief and to temporarily finance short-time work. It introduces two new measures under the ERDF and ESF+: higher advance payments for immediate liquidity and Union coverage of recovery costs with no co-financing required at the national level. Furthermore, up to 10% of the national cohesion policy allocation may be reprogrammed for those initiatives. As for rural development, the amendments to the Regulation on the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development provide Member States with more flexibility in providing aid in case of natural disasters. In the case of RESTORE, the maximum co-financing rate is 95%, with 25% additional advance co-financing. “Is it enough, or should it be 100 percent?” MEP Lewandowski wondered. When talking about challenges, he reiterated that when planning the EU budget, we should not forget that in 2028-58 we will need to repay € 421 billion in debt furnished during the COVID-19 pandemic through grants. We should also get ready for the enlargement. “We must help candidate countries by means of pre-accession funds,” he added.
In MEP Lewandowski’s assessment, these measures are still rather modest. He underlined that European Union’s measures could not replace actions by Member States. “For sure, we need more funds for these objectives in the Union budget,” he said. He believes that, even though the EU political framework has been evolving, the challenges still remain: timely financing (with frequent delays due to bureaucratic procedures and the need to mobilise funds more expeditiously in emergencies), administrative burden (the need for streamlined distribution of aid, making it more swift and effective), and regional disparities (the need to take into account discrepant capacities of Member Satets to implement crisis and natural disaster response and management mechanisms, in order to ensure that aid is provided to less developed regions). “When planning financial support in the event of natural disasters, we must work on prevention, react before something happens and make our citizens more aware of the risk. We should allocate 40% of our funds to green investments,” the Vice-Chair of the EP Committee on Budgets implored. “We need to make ourselves more flexible in this regard because we live in an unpredictable environment,” he added.
The Meeting of Chairpersons of the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC) at the Senate was rounded up by its chair, Tomasz Grodzki, Chair of the Senate’s European Union Affairs Committee. He stated that he would be coming out of the chamber with his head held up high as he was convinced that Europe could be a partner for everyone in the world, but never “someone’s servant or worse brother.” He reiterated that Europe comprised 450 million citizens plus the United Kingdom, and that its GDP was comparable to that of great powers. “Among others, it depends on us, parliamentarians, whether we will be able to bear the responsibility for leading Europe towards a bright, positive and optimistic future. After today’s meeting, and looking forward to the upcoming meetings under this presidency, I am convinced that history and global developments do and will mobilise us to ensure that Europe overcomes the challenges of the modern day. I am deeply convinced of that, and I believe that together, united, we will be able to do a great lot,” he said, ending the Meeting.
