In July and August 2014 the EU Affairs Committee (SUE) held 15 meetings: no. 264-278. During these meetings:

SUE

• scrutinised 184 EU documents:
  • pursuant to Art. 7(4) of the Cooperation Act – 28 EU draft legislative acts concerning i.a. General Budget for the EU, common rules for import or dissemination of Earth observation satellite data for commercial purposes,
  • pursuant to Art. 151(1) of the Sejm Standing Orders and Art. 3(2) of the Cooperation Act – 60 European Commission documents (23 communications, 31 reports, 4 joint communications, 1 green paper and 1 recommendation), concerning i.a. implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2013, EU justice programme for 2020 or credit agreements for consumers,
  • pursuant to Art. 11(1) of the Cooperation Act – EU documents, which were to be discussed by Agriculture and Fisheries Council, Economic and Financial Affairs Council, and General Affairs Council,
  • pursuant to Art. 8(2) of the Cooperation Act – 77 EU draft legal acts concerning i.a. composition of the Committee of the Regions and the Economic and Social Committee, the mobilisation of the EU Solidarity Fund or the rate of contribution to the pension scheme of officials and other servants of the EU,
• adopted 4 opinions concerning EU documents:
  
  • opinion no. 57 on joint communications Neighbourhood at the Crossroads: Implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2013, JOIN(2014) 12 (mtg no. 270), sent to the Commission, the EP and the Council,
  • opinion no. 58 on EC communication A new EU framework to strengthen the rule of law, COM(2014) 158 (mtg no. 270), sent to the Commission, the EP and the Council,
  • opinion no. 59 on EC communication European Energy Security Strategy, COM(2014) 330 (mtg no. 276),
  • opinion no. 60 on EC report concerning the governance of macro-regional strategies, COM(2014) 284 (mtg no. 277),
• gave a positive opinion on the candidature of prof. Marek Safjan for the position of the judge of the EU Court of Justice (opinion no. 56, mtg no. 265),
• considered information on the Republic of Poland's involvement in activities of the European Union in the period January-June 2014, during Greek Presidency of the EU Council (paper no. 2557, mtg no. 269),
• heard information on the activities of standing subcomittee for Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020, presented by chair of the subcommittee Cezary Tomczyk (mtg no. 271).

SUE together with Local Self-Governemnt and Regional Policy Committee

• considered the report of the special subcommittee on the Government's bill on principles of realization of cohesion policy programmes financed within the EU financial perspective 2014-2020 (paper no. 2450, mtg no. 264),
• considered the amendments proposed during the second reading of the above-mentioned bill (mtg no. 266).

SUE together with Foreign Affairs Committee (mtg no. 272)

• met with the Ambassador of the Republic of Greece Tasia Athanasiou and heard information on the results of Greek Presidency of the EU Council,
• met with the Ambassador of the Italian Republic Alessandro de Pedys and heard information on the programme of the Italian Presidency of the EU Council.

SUE together with Public Finance Committee (mtg no. 275)

• heard information on the forthcoming document Programming of the financial perspective for 2014-2020 – Partnership Agreement, presented by Marceli Niezgoda, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development, and Zofia Szalczyk, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

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In July and August 2014 information on and documents of SUE meetings no. 265, 267-271, 273, 274, 276-278, provided by the EU Affairs Committee secretariat, were published in the EDL-S (European Legislative Documents in the Sejm) and IPEX databases.

 Ageing Policy Committee

• 09.07.2014, heard the information of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy on the Government Programme for Senior Citizens Social Activity 2014-2020 and support programmes for seniors activation, implemented under the Operational Programme Civic Initiatives Fund (mtg no. 4);

Agriculture and Rural Development Committee

• 10.07.2014, heard the information of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) on the implementation of the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 in the light of annual report on its implementation, submitted to the European Commission; heard the information of the ARD Minister on Poland's involvement in activities of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in June 2014 (mtg no. 197);
• 10.07.2014, heard the information of the ARD Minister on the state of implementation of the Regulation of the EP and of the Council (EU) no. 1307/2013 establishing rules for direct payments to farmers under support schemes of the common agricultural policy (mtg no. 198).
• 22.07.2014, considered the information on the implementation of the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, with comments on the proposal submitted to the European Commission (mtg no. 199);
• 27.08.2014, considered the information of the ARD Minister and Minister of Health on the state of preparation of new provisions on acceptable standards of food contamination due to the entry into force on 1 September 2014 the Commission regulation (EU) no. 835/2011 (mtg no. 201).

• the following bills implementing EU law have been referred to the first reading [papers no.]:

• • Government bill on the protection of animals used for scientific and educational purposes [2709],
  • Government bill amending the act – Pharmaceutical Law and the act on counteracting drug addiction [2708],
  • Government bill amending the act on commercial quality of agricultural and food products and the act on the safety of food and nutrition [2683],
  • Government bill on renewable energy sources [2604],
  • Government bill on protection of and support for victim and witness [2653].
• the following acts implementing EU law have been adopted [paper no.]:
  • Act of 29 August 2014 amending the act on batteries and accumulators and some other acts [2244],
  • Act of 25 July 2014 amending the act on goods and services tax and the act - Tax Ordinance [2507],
  • Act of 29 August 2014 amending the act on health care benefits financed from public funds and and some other acts [2293],
  • Act of 29 August 2014 amending the act on corporate income tax, act on personal income tax and some other acts [2330],
  • Act of 29 August 2014 on the energy performance of buildings [2444],
  • Act of 11 July 2014 amending the act - Geological and Mining Law and some other acts [2352],
  • Act of 11 July 2014 amending the act on accounting [2245],
  • Act of 11 July 2014 amending the act - Environmental law and some other acts [2162],
  • Act of 11 July 2014 amending the act on the system of monitoring and controlling of quality of fuel s and some other acts [2087].

• the following acts implementing EU law have been published [paper no.]:

• • Act of 11 July 2014 amending the act - Environmental law and some other acts [2162],
  • Act of 11 July 2014 amending the act on the system of monitoring and controlling of quality of fuel s and some other acts [2087],
  • Act of 11 July 2014 amending the act - Geological and Mining Law and some other acts [2352],
  • Act of 26 June 2014 amending the act on granting protection to aliens within the territory of the Republic of Poland and some other acts [2243],
  • Act of 26 June 2014 amending the act on some compensatory agreements concluded in connection with supply agreements for defence and security of the state and some other acts [2167],
  • Act of 30 May 2014 amending the act on stocks of crude oil, petroleum products and natural gas and on the procedures applicable in circumstances of a threat to the fuel security of the state and disruptions on the petroleum market and amending some acts [2149].

In July and August 2014 10 draft legislative acts were subject to subsidiarity scrutiny. As of 2 September 2014, the national parliaments submitted 2 reasoned opinions on the non-compliance of these draft acts with the subsidiarity principle.

* In June to the document COM(2013) 884 one reasoned opinion was submitted - see the previous Biuletyn OIDE.

ON THE OIDE WEBSITE

In the section Legal and Systemic Issues

New information and documents were added to the articles: Green and white papers, Eurogroup, European semester.

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LATEST DEBATES - COMMENTS

 Articles on the current political and economic issues in the EU from the specialist periodicals available on-line (accessed 03.09.2014)

• Bertoncini Y.: New president, new "Constitution"?, "Tribune", Notre Europe – Jacques Delors Institute, 23.07.2014.
• Blockmans S.: Ukraine, Russia and the need for more flexibility in EU foreign policy-making, "Policy Brief", Centre for European Policy Studies, 25.07.2014.
• Dudzińska K.: Wprowadzenie euro sposobem na zwiększenie bezpieczeństwa Litwy, „Biuletyn PISM" nr 98 (1210), Polski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych, 18.08.2014.
• Formuszewicz R.: Czy prezydencja Włoch w Radzie UE może przynieść Europie kolejne „odrodzenie"?, „Biuletyn PISM" nr 92 (1204), Polski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych, 29.07.2014.
• Gros D.: A European sanctions compensation fund?, "Commentary", Centre for European Policy Studies, 12.08.2014.
• Kaca E., Parkes R., Sobják A.: Choosing our Geography: 12 Points to Restore Meaning to the Eastern Partnership, "PISM Policy Paper" no. 12 (95), Polski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych, July 2014.
• Lannoo K.: Juncker raises high expectations with ambitious agenda, "Commentary", Centre for European Policy Studies, 16.07.2014.
• Micossi S., Peirce F.: Flexibility clauses in the Stability and Growth Pact: No need for revision, "Policy Brief", Centre for European Policy Studies, 24.07.2014.
• Odendahl C.: The banking union alone cannot bring recovery, "Bulletin" iss. 97 August/September, Centre for European Reform , 29.07.2014.
• Piedrafita S., Conroy C.: Rounding out a satisfactory Trio Presidency: Greece sets the stage for its Italian successor, "Commentary", Centre for European Policy Studies, 03.07.2014.
• Poptcheva M.: German Constitutional Court decisions on EU anti-crisis measures, "Briefing", European Parliamentary Research Service, July 2014.
• Profant T., Toporowski P.: Potential for Cooperation: Polish and Czech Standpoints on the Banking Union, "PISM Policy Paper" no. 16 (99), Polski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych, August 2014.
• Verhelst S.: A Eurozone Subcommittee in the European Parliament: high hopes, low results?, "European Policy Brief", EGMONT – The Royal Institute for International Relations, 04.07.2014.
• Wnukowski D.: Towards a More Energy Independent EU: Exploiting Indigenous Potential in the Gas Sector, "PISM Strategic File" no. 13 (49), Polski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych, June 2014.
• Worobiow J., Kościński P.: Umowa stowarzyszeniowa Ukrainy i UE – kolejne kroki, „Biuletyn PISM" nr 85 (1197), Polski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych, 01.07.2014.