Joint Committees: Foreign Affairs and European Union were briefed by Konrad Szymański, Minister for European Union Affairs, on the conclusion and follow-up of the Conference on the Future of Europe, a debate organised by the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission in which every EU citizen could take part to share their ideas and thoughts on issues such as tackling climate change and the environmental damage it causes, health, the economy, law, security, digital transformation, democracy and migration.

These votes were summarized in the final report. In the case of Poland, there were 778 registered activities and 403 events. The involvement of the Polish administration included assistance in the organisation of 52 debates using 16 regional centers for international debates - in each voivodship. At the level of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, two major events were organised in co-operation with the Representation of the European Commission in Poland and the Representation of the European Parliament in Poland. The final report contains 49 proposals, to which 326 measures are attributed. Implementation of postulates concerning about 40 measures included in the report would require a change in the treaties. The next step will be the analysis of the report by the European Council. Poland remains open to treaty changes, but their direction should be determined by the European Council.

According to him, in Poland the most reliable and transparent expression of what Poles want is still the parliament. We do not know a better model of democracy, which gives full right of participation and fairness than elections enshrined in the Polish constitution. The role of the governments of the member states is now to study the report on the Conference and decide on further actions.

Foreign Affairs Committee on that day also listened to the information of the Minister of Foreign Affairs on relations between Poland and the USA. The information was presented by Marcin Przydacz, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

The Minister described the current state of Polish-American relations as the best in the history of the last 30 years. He stressed that our alliance is lasting because it is based on strong foundations of common values.

He pointed to security as the most important issue in bilateral relations, which is related to the ongoing Ukrainian-Russian conflict and its consequences for our region. Recent months have been characterized by intensive contacts at all levels and visits to Poland by top representatives of the US administration, including President Joe Biden. In the area of security, Poland seeks strong US leadership in the transatlantic community. Another important factor is the presence of American soldiers in Poland and in the countries of NATO's eastern flank, which has recently been strengthened. The Minister also pointed to regional initiatives, such as Tri-Moor or Bucharest Nine, which are actively supported by the United States. The Minister emphasized that also in the field of economic cooperation the relations are being intensified. The U.S. remains Poland's third economic partner among non-EU countries in terms of imports and second in terms of exports. Poland is the main recipient of American investments in Central Europe. Energy issues are an important part of our mutual relations - the supply of American LNG is an important element of energy diversification for Poland.

The discussion focused on such issues as: possibilities of intensifying relations on the parliamentary level, development of cooperation in the Poland-U.S.-Ukraine triangle, the isolationist trend present in the American public debate, and the issue of keeping the topic of Russian aggression on the current agenda.

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Foreign Affairs Committee and Public Finance and held on Thursday the first reading and considered a government bill on Poland's withdrawal from the Moscow-based International Bank for Economic Cooperation due to the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine and the fact that the Russian Federation is a major shareholder in the MBWG.