The Speaker of the Sejm, Marek Kuchciński, has assumed patronage over the conference "The Future of European Integration", which aims to answer the questions on what is the future of European integration and how should European policies look like in order to overcome the crisis.

Inaugurating the conference, the Speaker of the Sejm expressed hope for a breakthrough in EU politics during the celebrations of the anniversary of the Treaties of Rome. - Initial decisions will have to be made in Rome, indicating a vision for the development of the European Union, Kuchciński said.

The Speaker said that the Union, based on two pillars - security and prosperity - is going through a time of transition, on one hand connected with wars, not only in Ukraine, along the EU borders and mass immigration, and on the other hand with the crisis and long-term stagnation in many countries of the eurozone.

He recalled the exit from the EU of the United Kingdom, the EU's economically largest country, but he also stressed that most of us would opt for the Eurorealist current, underpinned by an honest analysis of profits and losses, combined with an appreciation of the core European values of Christianity and the humanities.

According to the Speaker, there is no democracy without a state based strongly on national community. He stressed that in its origins Europe is Christian, but also pluralistic and tolerant in the cultural sense, which determines its unique character and worldwide attractiveness. This otherness between Poles, French, Germans... makes us Europeans.

An alternative to giving the EU the features of a federation, which would mean strengthening supranational EU institutions and centralizing specific policies conducted in the European Union, is the project submitted by Poland for renewal and strengthening of the Union - 'Europe of solidary states', which proclaims a community of sovereign states, arranging their relations within the EU based on the principle of free with free, equal with equal. - We stated therein that the goal of the reform should not be to build a federal state, but to renew the European Union as an international organization bringing together sovereign nation states," said the Speaker of the Sejm. - Transformation of the European Union into a federation will not solve the most important contemporary problems on the continent. It will not free either entrepreneurship or economic freedoms in member states. On the contrary, it may contribute to the growth of anti-European radical sentiments and attitudes," he argued.

The conference consisted of two panels: "European Policies in Times of Crisis" with Prof. T.G. Grosse moderating, and "What Future for European Integration?" moderated by Prof. Z. Czachor.

Panelists included, among others, professors of UW, SGH, UAM, CEN, UO. and the Chairwoman of the Commission for European Union Affairs - MP Izabela Kloc.