Safety first. Poland ends EU Presidency

On Monday, the half-year Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union ends. Denmark will take over this function from Tuesday. The Presidency of the EU Council rotates between associate States all six months. Poland took the presidency at the beginning of the year, taking it from Hungary. The closing word was the second in the past of Polish membership of the Union – our country held the Presidency in the second half of 2011.

The main nonsubjective of the Polish Presidency of the EU Council in this six months was to strengthen the function of safety and defence in EU policy. Poland focused on highlighting the importance of these issues, accompanied by the slogan Security, Europo!. According to representatives of the Polish authorities, the Presidency was of a breakthrough nature. Prime Minister Donald Tusk pointed out at the summary conference that strengthening the common defence policy was a challenge due to the fact that it required a departure from the erstwhile belief that the European Union could be without military action.

The European Union was created as a large dream of a continent without war, without confrontation, without the request for force. The European Union was a consequence to the war and expressed the Europeans' religion that war would never be again. You know how hard it was to break that paradigm? This naive European religion said the Prime Minister.

The Presidency was of peculiar importance in strengthening the EU's defence policy, both in terms of direction and circumstantial financial decisions. 1 of the key achievements was the associate States' support for the creation of the SAFE instrument aimed at supporting the European arms industry. This mechanics provides for as much as EUR 150 billion for joint defence projects and procurement in the EU. Estimates show that Poland may be 1 of the main beneficiaries of this programme, which further strengthens its position in the field of safety and defence in Europe.

Strengthening the East of Europe

Minister of abroad Affairs Radosław Sikorski, in a conversation with PAP, DPA and AFP agencies, stressed that during the Polish Presidency of the EU Council, Europe adopted the Polish point of view that Russia is simply a long-term threat. He stressed the adoption of a number of tools to strengthen the safety and resilience of the Union. Among the concrete achievements, he mentioned inter alia the negotiation and adoption by the EU of a 16th and 17th package of sanctions against Russia in consequence to its aggression towards Ukraine.

The president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, spoke with PAP, positively assessed the effects of the Polish Presidency, stressing that the announced objectives were achieved at a fast pace. Costa besides pointed out that 1 of Poland's major successes was to bring to the approval of the EDIP programme – a major initiative by the European Commission to support the improvement of the European arms industry. The programme aims to increase the competitiveness of the EU defence sector by financing the production and improvement of military equipment, with at least 65% of the components having to come from the EU, the European economical Area or Ukraine. EDIP besides provides support for the Ukrainian defence manufacture in the context of ongoing aggression by Russia.

You made it.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, addressed Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Thursday, stressing that the Polish Presidency had taken an highly demanding time, but was well run. She pointed out the concrete effects – the adoption of 37 legal acts and the agreement on the next 18, which were inactive in progress. As she pointed out, these results are impressive.

Your presidency was difficult, but you did it. – she said.