Priorities of the Ministry of Economy during the Polish Presidency

Due to its broad competences, the Ministry of Economy is responsible for a significant part of the programme of the Polish Presidency of the EU Council.   

The Minister of Economy chairs the discussions in three EU Council configurations during the Polish Presidency, namely:

- Competitiveness Council (in the part concerning “internal market and industry policy”);

- Energy Council;

- Foreign Affairs Council in the “trade policy” format.

The Ministry of Economy carries out key tasks in the framework of all three priorities of the Polish Presidency of the EU Council, i.e.:

- Deepening of the internal market under the “European integration as a source of growth” priority;

- External dimension of the energy policy under the “Secure Europe” priority;

- Strengthening of the economic and trade relations between the EU and third countries under the “Europe benefiting from openness” priority.

EUROPEAN INTEGRATION AS A SOURCE OF GROWTH

SECURE EUROPE

EUROPE BENEFITING FROM OPENNESS

EUROPEAN INTEGRATION AS A SOURCE OF GROWTH

Internal Market

• Implementation of this priority will be based on the internal market renewal programme presented by the European Commission in April 2011 – Single Market Act. The Presidency intends to focus on the development of e-commerce. In order to allow the EU market actors to take full advantage of e-services, it is necessary to lift regulatory and administrative barriers and strengthen consumers’ confidence. To this end, measures will be undertaken to eliminate barriers which do not allow to perform cross-border on-line transactions and works on the reduction of the roaming services fees will be continued.
• During the Polish Presidency, the Ministry of Economy, the European Parliament and the European Commission will organise the Single Market Forum (SIMFO) in Kraków on 2-4 October 2011. The objective of the Forum is to support and develop the single market by means of increasing the entrepreneurs and citizens’ awareness of their rights and opportunities.

• One of the priority issues concerning the internal market will be the improvement of regulatory environment of the European enterprises. Under the Smart Regulation initiative, particular attention will be paid to the regulatory impact assessment tool used in the process of lawmaking.

• Furthermore, a particular emphasis will be placed on increasing the benefits from the single market for enterprises, in particular for SMEs. In 2011, there will be stock-taking of the measures that the Member States committed themselves to undertake while adopting the Small Business Act.
• In addition, the Polish Presidency will strive to conclude the works on creating a unitary EU patent which would be affordable and easily available to European entrepreneurs.
• In the area of industrial policy to be discussed at the informal meeting of the Competitiveness Council on 21 and 22 July 2011 (Sopot), the works on the following flagship initiatives will be of key importance: (1) an industrial policy for the globalisation era and (2) a resource-efficient Europe.  Important legislative works will focus on European standardisation package aimed at strengthening the EU economy and improving the competitiveness of European enterprises.

SECURE EUROPE

External energy policy

• Referring to the new treaty provisions on the EU energy policy (Lisbon Treaty), the Polish Presidency intends to pay particular attention to the external dimension of energy policy, which is of critical importance for ensuring a secure future of the EU in the increasingly globalised world.  
• In the context of work on the new energy strategy for the coming decade and medium and long-term challenges faced by the EU, there is a need to analyse the present EU external energy policy and to formulate conclusions that will allow to strengthen this policy.  Discussions on external aspects of energy policy will be conducted i.a. at an informal meeting of the EU energy ministers in Wrocław on 19 and 20 September 2011, which will be followed by formulation and adoption of the Energy Council conclusions on 24 November 2011.
• As regards the internal dimension of energy policy, the Presidency intends to achieve as much progress as possible on infrastructure package and energy efficiency legislation which account for the major part of legislative work on energy policy in the second half of 2011.
• The Polish Presidency intends to finalize the ongoing negotiation on the Regulation on energy market integrity and transparency (REMIT).
• Another important issue will be the proposed regulation on the safety of offshore oil and gas activities which is the EU reaction to the disaster on a drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010.

EUROPE BENEFITING FROM OPENNESS

Common Commercial Policy

• As regards the new EU trade strategy presented by the European Commission in autumn 2010, a significant progress in the Doha Round negotiations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) forum is of utmost importance for the EU and its further growth in the context of relations with third countries. The key issue for the Polish Presidency will be to formulate the appropriate agenda for the Eighth WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva in December 2011. Recent developments demonstrate that it will be possible to adopt a specific package of development arrangements for the least developed countries and solutions reducing the costs of running businesses in the field of international trade, without eliminating the possibility to conduct negotiations aimed at further liberalisation of global trade. The Polish Presidency will aim at EU conclusions and agreements concluding this stage of the WTO negotiations. Liberalization of the world trade and opening of markets are vitally important for ensuring conditions necessary for sustainable global economic growth.
• The Polish Presidency’s involvement in strengthening the economic and trade cooperation in the Eastern Europe, modelled on the cooperation of the EU with the Mediterranean countries, will also be of key importance. The Polish Presidency will focus in particular on the need to achieve as much progress as possible in negotiations on a Deep and comprehensive free trade agreement between Ukraine and the EU (DCFTA), hoping to finalize the negotiations by the end of 2011. The Polish Presidency will also make efforts to start negotiations on DCFTAs between the EU and Moldova and Georgia. Another important issue during the Polish Presidency of the EU Council will be the process of the accession of Russia to the WTO. The Polish Presidency hopes to welcome on behalf of the EU this large and important European neighbour among the WTO member states in 2011.
• Other important issues during the Polish Presidency include negotiations on free trade agreements (FTAs) with Asian countries. The Polish Presidency will support negotiations on free trade agreements between the EU and India, Singapore and Malaysia. An important task of the Polish Presidency will be to finish the negotiations on the association agreement between the EU and Mercosur and agreements with the Latin America countries which will include important trade components. Furthermore, the Presidency will strive to conclude negotiations on the EU-Canada Comprehensive economic and trade agreement (CETA).
• The Polish Presidency will also begin works on the reform of the EU system of trade preferences for developing and the least developed countries (EU GSP) from 2014 onwards.