11 Iúil 2011, 14:13
11 July 2011 Speaking at the meeting of Chairpersons of EU Affairs Committees of the EU, Deputy Joe Costello, Chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs has complimented the Polish Presidency on an ambitious and comprehensive set of priorities.
The theme of the presidency is Solidarity. Poland holds the EU Presidency, for the first time from 1st July 2011- 31st December 2011.
Deputy Costello said;
“Openness and EU Integration are most appropriate for Poland, the country which made “Solidarnosc” its national symbol of freedom.
A proactive programme of growth and defending the internal market is probably the best way of dealing with the financial crises.
The debate of the Multi-annual Financial Framework 2014-2020 will begin during the Polish presidency, it is essential that the underlying principle of the framework be that the EU Budget be commensurate with the Policy Objectives of the Union during this period. In that respect it must be sufficient to enable full implementation of the EU's commitments in the 2020 Strategy. Likewise from an Irish perspective the Budget must be adequate to fund a reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. Farm support of EU food security requires a strong CAP.
Finally, Poland has made security a priority of its presidency. Security takes many forms. Food security as I have mentioned but also energy security and good financial governance. Again from an Irish perspective, conflict resolution, peacekeeping, provision of humanitarian aid and facilitating democracy are key features of any security debate.
I conclusion I welcome Poland’s priority of openness and engagement; with new neighbourhood agreements with countries towards the East with sufficient support for aspirant accession states towards the South, including Croatia and with support for the ‘Arab Spring’ across the Mediterranean.
I wish Poland’s Presidency every success.”
ENDS
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Note: Annual EU budgets are based on the multiannual financial framework (MFF) agreed between the European Parliament, Council and Commission. The financial framework sets the maximum amount of commitment appropriations in the EU budget each year for broad policy areas (\"headings\") and fixes an overall annual ceiling on payment and commitment appropriations.