Poland in the Council of Europe

The main area of the Presidency's activities is to strengthen the security and resilience of the EU and its partners in 7 key dimensions: external, internal, information, economic, energy, food and health.

1. Defence and security.
We need concerted and ambitious action on European defence, complementing the efforts of NATO.
There is a need to boost defence readiness based on increased military spending, a stronger defence industry and addressing defence capability gaps. The Polish Presidency will support these activities and push for an in-depth debate on defence financing in the EU.
We need strong support for the defence capabilities and defence industry, which will benefit entities of all sizes from all Member States. Support for key defence and dual-use infrastructure, such as East Shield and the Baltic Defence Line, is also important.

2. Protection of people and borders.
Europe must continue its efforts to ensure an optimal level of internal security for its citizens.
Together we will seek new solutions to comprehensively address the challenges of migration and security at the EU's external borders, work to reduce irregular migration and strengthen the effectiveness of return policy.
We will work towards an adequate EU response to hybrid threats, in particular the instrumentalisation of migration. We will face the challenges of ensuring that the Schengen Area functions properly.

3. Resistance to foreign interference and desinformation. 
The European Union and its member states must strengthen the resilience of democracy to curb polarization and radicalization. This requires the ability to recognise and eliminate disinformation and foreign manipulation, but also long-term efforts in the areas of civic education and strengthening civil society.
The Polish presidency will strive to strengthen coordination in the fight against disinformation, information manipulation and to improve the EU's ability to prevent and mitigate the effects of hostile actions in cyberspace. It is particularly important to deal with crisis situations involving interference by third countries with EU information systems.

4. Ensuring security and freedom of business.
The Polish presidency intends to take measures that will contribute to solving challenges related to rapid technological change, energy and climate transition as well as geopolitical tensions. It is necessary to deepen the Single Market, remove barriers to cross-border activity, especially in the services sector. Enacting initiatives that improve access to private capital for businesses that want to grow and invest will also be of importance.
The Polish presidency will promote the reduction of bureaucratic burdens. In this context, it will be important that major European policies make their approach more flexible, move away from penalties and obligations and focus on rewards and incentives. The Polish Presidency will also concentrate on improving support mechanisms for industry in areas important for security and building economic advantages, while maintaining a level playing field within the EU.
It will also be our priority to restore a fair competition for EU industry in the global arena. We intend to improve trade policy instruments, enforcement when goods enter the EU market and make better use of the strengths of the EU's broad public procurement stream.

5. Energy Transition.
Poland stresses that the reliability and certainty of the supply of energy resources is crucial for the EU's energy security. However, it was only Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine that led to a reduction in Russian gas and oil imports by about two-thirds and a complete shift away from Russian coal imports. Nevertheless, there is still much to be done. Today, EU energy security is also about ensuring that citizens and businesses have access to energy in sufficient quantities and at an affordable price.
The Polish presidency will therefore promote actions aimed at a full withdrawal from imports of Russian energy sources. It will undertake steps with a view to reduce energy prices in the EU and revise the EU's energy security framework to enhance the physical security and cybersecurity of energy infrastructure in the EU and its neighbourhood and ensure a level playing field for the development of each clean energy source in the EU.

6. Competitive and resilient agriculture.
Europe must ensure that farmers' position in value chains is strengthened and their income is stable. We need a competitive and resilient European agriculture that provides food security for Europeans. All EU actions should take into account vulnerable agricultural sectors and ensure that non-EU producers comply with EU food quality, safety and sustainability standards. The Polish presidency will strive to shape a strong Common Agricultural Policy that supports farmers and the development of rural areas.The policy should encourage, rather than force, farmers to take action to protect the environment and show the benefits of combating and preventing the effects of climate change, such as floods and droughts.

7. Health security.
The Polish presidency will focus on the digital transformation of healthcare and the need to improve EU medicines security, with a particular focus on the patients' perspective. Both the diversification of medicines supply chains and support for their production in the EU play a key role.

The priorities of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU are complementary to the main vectors of activities of the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Poland to the Council of Europe.
Among them, the following elements deserve special attention:
1) Activity in the work of the Register of damages caused by Russian aggression against Ukraine, as well as building a compensation system are an important aspect of the activities of the Council of Europe.
2) Poland remains an active partner supporting cooperation with representatives of the democratic opposition in Russia and Belarus at the CoE forum.
3) The state of democracy in neighbouring countries, especially those belonging to the Eastern Partnership and the Western Balkans, is at the centre of interest of the EU and the CoE. These activities are implemented through Action Plans, financed, m.in, by Polish government.
4) The concept of security also applies to the information sphere and building common resilience to disinformation. Security in this area has an impact on the state of democracy, the rule of law and human rights.