Under the motto "Friendly Cooperation and Good Neighborliness," the Presidencies of the Sejm and the Bundestag met in Bonn on September 22.

The meeting was attended by members of the Presidium of the Sejm: including Vice-Marshal Marek Kuchciński. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Sejm committees.

During the meeting the highest authorities of the Sejm and the Bundestag discussed joint activities within the framework of the Polish-German Cooperation Programme, including the so-called Round Table. The program serves the implementation of mutual postulates related to the development of bilateral relations, such as regional and cross-border cooperation, energy cooperation, partnership within the European Union and youth exchange.

The Polish delegation also discussed with the Bundestag Presidium the role of national parliaments in the process of European integration.

With the Lisbon Treaty, national parliaments gained direct influence on the European legislative process. The position of national parliaments has been strengthened by, among other things, an early warning mechanism as part of the subsidiarity test and the right of veto in the simplified treaty revision procedure. The new competences also provide the possibility for the parliaments of EU countries to undertake joint actions.

The politicians also discussed the situation in Belarus and Ukraine, i.a. in the context of respect for human rights. This problem is monitored by the European Union as part of the Eastern Partnership.

During the conference summarizing the meeting the Speaker of the Sejm said that each year a report will be prepared describing to what extent the provisions of the Round Table have been implemented.

During the meeting it was agreed that next year there will be a joint meeting of the Presidiums of the Parliaments of the Weimar Triangle countries.

Source : www.sejm.gov.pl

Photo credit: Barbara Cöllen.