report on parliamentary activities - district no. 22

Speaker of the Sejm Marek Kuchciński

FEBRUARY

 

Thursday, February 1

• Berlin: meeting with Bundestag President Wolfgang Schaeuble. - For us politicians, a multigenerational approach means drawing the most appropriate conclusions from a well-studied past in order to build a good future on them", said Marshal Marek Kuchciński. Current situation in the European Union and relations between Poland and Germany were the subject of the politicians' discussions. During his visit to Berlin, the Speaker of the Sejm met with the Polish community and visited the "Topography of Terror" museum, which documents mechanisms and crimes committed by the Germans during World War II in Europe.

Sunday, February 4

• Ustrzyki Górne: The 2nd Olek Ostrowski Memorial in alpine skiing. Aleksander Ostrowski was a rescuer of Bieszczady GOPR, a member of Mountaineering Club in Cracow and a ski instructor of Polish Ski Association. He combined mountaineering with skialpinism, i.e. high-altitude skiing. The Marshal received a statuette on the occasion of 65th anniversary of GOPR.

 

Tuesday, February 6

• The Bureau of the Sejm
• Senior Convention
• 58th sitting of the Sejm
• The "Man of the Year" Gala of the Free Word Zone. During the gala, prizes of St. Gregory I the Great, Man of the Year of "Gazeta Polska" Clubs and 25th anniversary of "Gazeta Polska" were awarded. Their laureates were, in turn: Andrzej Gwiazda, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and brothers Lech and Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

 

photo by Beata Szydło, Instagram

Wednesday, February 7

• Exhibition "On the Road to Independence". The centenary of the rebirth of the Polish State is the most important event around which our collective memory focuses. Marek Kuchciński, Speaker of the Sejm, who opened the exhibition, emphasized that the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of independence are an opportunity to deepen the knowledge of the roads to independence, strengthen the sense of the value of an independent state and remind that independence must be constantly guarded. The Marshal said that it is extremely important to shape patriotic attitudes, strengthen the sense of civic community of Poles, deepen the understanding of the idea of Polish statehood, and the mission to disseminate knowledge about history, especially about its heroes.

• Management of the Chancellery of the Sejm
• Senior Convention
• Meeting with the Minister of Environment Henryk Kowalczyk
• Meeting with parliamentarians from Podkarpacie

 Thursday, February 8

• The Bureau of the Sejm
• Senior Convention
• 58th sitting of the Sejm. The MEPs passed eight laws: on the principles of stay of foreign troops on the territory of the Republic of Poland and the principles of their movement through that territory, on the principles of stay of foreign troops on the territory of the Republic of Poland and the principles of their movement through that territory, an act providing for the establishment of the Waclaw Felczak Institute for Polish-Hungarian Cooperation, an act providing for the establishment of the Waclaw Felczak Institute for Polish-Hungarian Cooperation, and an act providing for the establishment of the Waclaw Felczak Institute for Polish-Hungarian Cooperation. Wacław Felczak, on financial support for the creation of social housing, protected housing, night shelters and homes for the homeless, on the protection of tenants' rights, the housing stock of the commune and amendments to the Civil Code and some other acts, on the ratification of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark on microorganisms and genetically modified organisms. Thanks to the amendment to the Act on recognition of invalid decisions made against persons repressed for activities for the independent existence of the Polish State, children who are imprisoned with their mothers for opposition activities in the People's Republic of Poland will be able to receive compensation and reparation from the State Treasury. The Sejm also gave its consent to the ratification by the President of the Republic of Poland of the so-called Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol.

MPs passed a resolution on negotiating the principles of the European Union's common agricultural policy after 2020 and adopted the government's information on the measures taken in 2015 and in 2016 for people with disabilities.

• Meeting with the President of the Spanish Senate. The European Union needs to be strengthened, and this strengthening should come from the countries that form it - agreed Sejm Speaker Marek Kuchciński and Spanish Senate President Pío García-Escudero Márquez. The meeting was a pretext for discussing joint political and economic initiatives. Márquez emphasized that for Spanish entrepreneurs Poland is a center where it is worth investing and developing business activities. The interlocutors also raised the issue of the current and future shape of the European Union, and agreed that we must not deviate from the values on which the EU was built.

 Friday, February 9

• Meeting with Marian Żołyniak, Vice-President of the Polish Gas Company

Saturday, February 10

• 94th Smolensk Monthly Commemoration. The celebrations started at 8 a.m. with the Holy Mass in the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph the Spouse in Warsaw. Jarosław Kaczyński also referred to the issue of calling concentration camps 'Polish death camps' and the Polish-Israeli conflict. - We must be firm, we must be tough. We must defend the truth about what happened in Poland during World War II," said the president.

Sunday, February 11

• Marshal Marek Kuchciński was honored with the "Heart for Heart" Gold Medal. On behalf of the Marshal the medal was received by Senator Marek Pęk

Letter from the Speaker of the Sejm Heart-for-Heart Gold Medal

 Monday, February 12

• "Man of Freedom 2017" Gala Weekly magazine wSieci. The title was awarded to the judge of the Constitutional Tribunal Julia Przyłębska

Tuesday, February 13

• Meeting with Professor Stanisław Baj and Anna Bielecka at the Academy of Fine Arts
• Meeting with the Marshall of Podkarpackie Voivodeship Władysław Ortyl
• Meeting concerning the virtual museum, cooperation between the Chancellery of the Sejm and Google Polska
• Meeting with a representative of St. Philip the Apostle Publishing House from Częstochowa. The "Great Patriotic Book" was presented to the Marshal

Wednesday, February 14

• Meeting with the President of the French Senate Gerard Lacher. Speaker of the Sejm Marek Kuchciński stressed the need to intensify cooperation between the parliaments of Poland and France and to establish a forum for cooperation between parliaments, friendship groups or experts. The President of the French Senate supported the idea of a forum where sensitive topics would be discussed, whether as part of the Polish-French dialogue or as part of the Weimar Triangle. He agreed that this would be a quick initiative, which he would immediately present to the French Senate. He pointed out that it would be good to understand the scope of the parliaments' competences not through media translations, but through direct contacts.

• Meeting with the Ambassador of Austria H.E. Werner Almhofer. During the meeting the topic of sustainable development of the European Union - diverse countries with equal rights - was discussed. The Speaker of the Sejm emphasized the need for reform of the judiciary in Poland, following the example of the Western European countries, and the need for a better flow of information, since it is mainly due to disinformation that the state of the rule of law in Poland is wrongly assessed. The Speaker also stressed the need to intensify the contacts between parliaments, also by including Austria in the format of the Visegrad Group. The Ambassador announced the establishment of an Austrian-Polish Parliamentary Friendship Group in March. 

• Meeting with experts

 Thursday, February 15

• Meeting with Mr. Marek Matraszek

Saturday, February 17

• XX Conference Europe of the Carpathians, Przemyśl. - In the last decade of the last century we began rebuilding Central Europe; we decided to use this time to show its potential, the potential of the Carpathians, to give our part of Europe a new dynamics - said Marek Kuchciński, Speaker of the Sejm, while opening the conference. During the five thematic panels the following speakers took the floor: Deputy Speaker of the Sejm Ryszard Terlecki, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jacek Czaputowicz, Minister of Investment and Development Jerzy Kwieciński, Deputy Minister of Development Adam Hamryszczak and Minister of Infrastructure Andrzej Adamczyk. Among the panelists and guests there were also parliamentarians and scientists from Hungary, Ukraine, Slovakia, Bulgaria.

Tuesday, February 20

• Bratislava, meeting with Speaker of the Slovak Parliament Andrej Danko. Political, military and economic cooperation - these are in brief the main topics of talks between Speaker of the Sejm Marek Kuchciński and the President, Prime Minister and Speaker of the National Council of Slovakia. The two-day visit abounded in important declarations and decisions strengthening the bilateral cooperation between Warsaw and Bratislava. - The revival of Polish-Slovak cooperation is very visible, especially in recent years. It concerns not only parliaments, but also local governments and infrastructure. The best example is Via Carpatia, one of the key investments in both countries - said Marek Kuchciński.

Along with Chairman Danko, Marshal Kuchcinski also laid wreaths at the symbolic Gate of Freedom, which commemorates those who lost their lives during the communist era while trying to get through the "Iron Curtain" to the "free world"

Wednesday, February 21

• She meeting with the Minister of National Defense of the Hellenic Republic, Panos Kammenos. The main topic of discussion was the security of external borders of the European Union.

• Meeting with the President of the Polish Academy of Sciences Prof. Jerzy Duszyñski

Thursday, February 22

• Smeeting with prof. Rafał Sura
• Smeeting with Kazimierz Kujda

 Sunday, February 25

• XIII World Polonia Winter Games "Krynica-Zdrój 2018″. - We are here together today to emphasize our community and to express respect for all our compatriots around the world, and there are over 60 million of us. We stand out, among other things, because only we use this beautiful term: Polonia, when we talk about our nation - said the Speaker of the Sejm Marek Kuchciński, opening the Winter Games. 

• LETTER: XXXVII Anniversary of the Rzeszow and Augustow Agreements

Letter from the Speaker of the Sejm on the XXXVII anniversary of the Rzeszów and Augustystok Agreements

• LIST: Commemoration of the 187th Anniversary of the Battle of Olszynka Grochowska

Celebration of the 187th anniversary of the Battle of Olszynka Grochowska

Monday, February 26

• Management of the Chancellery of the Sejm

Tuesday, February 27

• The Bureau of the Sejm
• Senior Convention
• Management of the Chancellery of the Sejm
• 59th Session of the Sejm

Wednesday, February 28

• The Bureau of the Sejm
• Senior Convention
• Working lunch with the President of the Seimas of Lithuania
• Votes. During its 59th session, the Sejm passed five laws - on judicial officers (original print no. 1582) and the Law on Bailiffs' Fees (original print no. 1582). The new provisions provide, among other things, for a single 10% enforcement fee and introduce the obligation to record all enforcement actions. The incorporated amendments also provide that, in the case of an inexpedient initiation of enforcement proceedings, the bailiff will charge the creditor a fee of 8% of the enforced benefit. Accordingly, the bailiff will not charge the debtor and will return the previously enforced fee to the debtor. Under the adopted amendments, the provisions of both laws are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2019.
• A Solemn Concert Celebrating 100 Years of Independence Restoration of the Republic of Lithuania