Tag: Poland

Poland wants to draw up a new 'contract' for the EU that would highlight the benefits of EU membership and redefine the joint responsibilities of member states, says Paweł Świeboda in an exclusive interview with EurActiv Poland.

Under pressure from nationalist parties, many EU member states have led attacks against the European budget and the Schengen border-free area, said Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski, denouncing the "arrogance" of some countries. The Polish budget commissioner spoke to EurActiv Poland in an interview.

Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of Poland's main opposition party, said yesterday (30 June) that Russia bore the main responsibility for a plane crash last April in which his twin brother and Poland's then-president Lech Kaczyński died.

Paving the way for an "ambitious" agreement on the 2014-2020 budget, energy security and the European Union's Eastern neighbourhood are all key priorities of the Polish EU Presidency during the second half of 2011. The Poles, for their part, have pulled all the stops to ensure that the Union remains committed to redistributive policies at a time of economic austerity.

The presidents of Serbia, Romania and Slovakia threatened to boycott a summit of Central and South-Eastern European countries, to be held in Warsaw over the two next days (27-28 May) with the presence of US President Barack Obama, over the participation on an equal footing of Kosovo's president.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said today (20 May) that Leszek Balcerowicz, architect of his country's 'shock therapy' reforms in the early 1990s, could be a good candidate to become the new head of the International Monetary Fund.

Poland said the development of shale gas across the EU should obtain the status of "a common European project," adding that it intends to promote the development of unconventional gas during its upcoming EU presidency.

On 1 May 2011 Germany and Austria will lift all restrictions on the movement of workers from the eight Central European EU member states which joined the bloc in 2004. EurActiv's media network sheds light on the various expectations and forecasts.

Poland appears to have lost its fight to exempt new coal-fired power stations from paying for European Union emissions permits, an EU document showed on Tuesday (29 March).

Poland supports the 'Community method' of EU-decision-making, recently defended by European Commission President José Manuel Barroso against attempts by France and Germany to revert to intergovernmental methods, Polish State Secretary for European Affairs Mikołaj Dowgielewicz told EurActiv in an exclusive interview.

Polish President Bronisław Komorowski said yesterday (7 February) that he would welcome Russia to meetings of the Weimar Triangle countries – comprising Poland, Germany and France – as a way of strengthening Moscow's ties with the EU. EurActiv Poland reports.

Cash shortages and uncertainty over energy prices are delaying or cutting back nuclear power projects across Central and South-Eastern Europe, threatening energy supply and a push to abandon polluting coal.

In this commentary, STRATFOR analyst Marko Papic uses recent developments in Poland, Sweden and Russia to examine the evolving geopolitics of the Baltic region in 2011.

With the Hungarian EU presidency in the first half of 2011, followed by the Polish in the second half, the Union will live a "Central Europe Presidency year," Hungarian Foreign Minister János Martonyi said.

The European Commission confirmed yesterday (13 December) it had reached an agreement with Poland on giving countries that have reformed their pension systems more leeway over fiscal policy. In the meantime, the parliament in Budapest voted to effectively dismantle pension reform. The issue will be on the agenda of EU leaders at their 16-17 December summit.

The eight East European countries that joined the EU in 2004 are bouncing back more quickly from the economic crisis than their Western neighbours, but Bulgaria and Romania, which joined three years later, are not out of the woods yet, according to the latest statistics. The EurActiv network gives a round-up of the situation.

Russia wants to take part in the privatisation of Polish companies, its president said yesterday (6 December) during a visit designed to draw a line under old disputes and highlight burgeoning economic ties. From Warsaw, Medvedev left for Brussels, where an EU-Russia summit is being held today.

Vicious cold and deep snow did not discourage European socialists meeting in Warsaw from agreeing a strategy to elect a "winning candidate" to replace José Manuel Barroso at the helm of the European Commission in 2014. EurActiv Poland reports.

Officials from Russia and the European Commission yesterday (22 November) marked the 10-year anniversary of EU-Russia energy dialogue and devised ways to overcome the present "lack of trust," as Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko described the state of relations.

Poland and Russia are due to sign an agreement in Brussels today (4 November) that will see Gazprom increase its deliveries to Warsaw by 38%. Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger said the treaty would have "EU legitimacy".

One year after the establishment of Europe's first 'macro-region', which brings together 10 countries nested around the Baltic Sea, a number of positive results can already be seen, according to Johannes Hahn, the European commissioner in charge of regional policy.

When Poland takes on the EU presidency in 2011, it will focus on energy, security and defence and injecting ''optimism'' into the European Union, Mikołaj Dowgielewicz, Polish state secretary for European affairs and economic policy, told EurActiv Slovakia in an interview.

Poland may face natural gas shortages later this year as a result of delays in signing a long-term gas supply deal with Russia, the European Commission said on 17 September. Brussels says Poland is preventing EU companies from buying its surplus Russian gas, infringing EU internal market rules.

Speaking at the 20^th Economic Forum for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in Krynica, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said he was confident that the 'Europe 2020' economic strategy would succeed where its predecessor had failed. EurActiv Poland reports.