Polish Presidency

This year, our country holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU for the first time. It is a historical moment for us, a time of unprecedented challenges, a sort of test for our membership in the European Union, but also a source of great pride.

Due to its competence, the Ministry of Economy is deeply involved in formulating Poland's position at the EU forum. We have ambitious plans and therefore we make efforts for this Presidency to be remembered as an important and, first of all, an efficient Presidency.

The Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU is all the more a challenge due to the difficult time experienced by the European economy. Nevertheless, we want to work together with all Member States to develop, during the six months of the Polish Presidency, multidimensional solutions for further successful development of the EU.

During the Polish Presidency, as the Minister of Economy I have the honour to chair the discussions at the Competitiveness Council, the Energy Council and the Foreign Affairs Council dedicated to trade policy.

The Polish Presidency specified three main priorities for its activities, namely “European integration as a source of growth”, “Secure Europe” and “Europe benefiting from openness”.

Under the first priority, the Ministry of Economy aims to develop the internal market which is the greatest asset of the European Union. Our activities are inspired by the Communication of the European Commission: “Single Market Act”. We will focus on the development of e-commerce by reducing administrative barriers. Under the Smart Regulation initiative, we will work on the improvement of the regulatory environment. We also want to finalize works on the creation of a unitary and affordable patent protection system in the EU. An important element of the Presidency agenda is the debate on competitiveness of the European industry in the era of globalisation in view of the necessity to efficiently use natural resources.

For the Ministry of Economy “Secure Europe” means Europe having an efficient energy policy in its external dimension. Our goal is to strengthen the EU position towards major producers and transit countries for energy raw materials and to improve the efficiency of operations of the EU institutions in this area.

By “Europe benefiting from openness” we mean the development of the common commercial policy. One of the most important issues for us is to boost economic and trade relations between the EU and the East, including also the successful conclusion of negotiations on the free trade agreement between the European Union and Ukraine.

Hoping for your interest, I would like to invite you to the websites of the Ministry of Economy dedicated to the activities of the Ministry during the Polish Presidency, where you can find i.a. information about the priorities of the Ministry and a calendar of events of the Presidency organised by the Ministry. I am certain that our country will efficiently and successfully manage the work of the Council of the EU.

 Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy

Waldemar Pawlak