Minister Krzysztof Paszek and Deputy Minister Michał Baranowski commenced a two-day visit to Brussels. This is an opportunity to present the primary objectives of the Polish Presidency in the European Union to the Members of EU Parliament.

Priorities of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Speaking to the members of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, the Minister of Economic Development and Technology stressed that the European Union is the largest single market in the world encompassing 440 million of consumers, which is why the economic dimension belongs to seven dimensions of security being the leitmotiv of the Polish Presidency in the EU.

In the light of the challenges posed by increasingly unstable and unpredictable international environment, competitiveness of the single market becomes a pillar of security. The works of the Competitiveness Council will focus among others on restoring the single market foundations, including in particular in the area of free flow of services and vital improvement of regulatory environment for the entrepreneurs. Maintaining barriers on the single market, in particular to cross-border flow of services, increasingly affect the competitiveness and innovation of our companies

- pointed out Krzysztof Paszyk.

The Head of MEDT reminded that achieving full capacity of the Single Market for services could boost the European Union’s GDP even by nearly EUR 500 billion.

This priority of the Polish Presidency is also addressed by the draft regulation on e-declarations of secondment of employees. The primary objective of this regulation is to simplify and decrease administrative burdens vested upon the entrepreneurs providing cross-border services and administrative authorities with a focus on the protection of employees

- added the Minister of Economic Development and Technology, stressing that friendly regulatory environment is the key determinant of economic growth. This is why the Polish Presidency will seek to improve the regulatory environment supporting competitiveness of the European companies.

Krzysztof Paszyk pointed also out at late payments, which become an increasing burden to the European entrepreneurs, in particular MSEs. Nearly 60% of companies indicate that late payments hinder their investments. The Head of MEDT stressed that the Polish Presidency is ready to continue works on the proposal concerning late payments in commercial transactions and will take measures to strengthen consumer protection.

Children are our most vulnerable consumers. With this in mind, the Presidency will put particular attention to further works on draft toy safety regulation in the area of technical harmonisation. We hope to reach a consensus with the Parliament and the Commission, which on one hand will ensure high level of protection, in particular chemical safety, and regulatory flexibility enabling development of the European toy market and our relevant MSEs on the other hand

- emphasized Minister Krzysztof Paszyk.

Meetings with the EU representatives

During his visit to Belgium, Minister Krzysztof Paszyk held a courtesy meeting with Anna Cavazzini, Chair of IMCO. Deputy Minister Michał Baranowski had a meeting with Bernd Biervert, Head of Cabinet of Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and Kerstin Jorna, Director General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs.