
Polish Council Presidency
A presidency dedicated to security.
SK – 01/2025
The Polish Presidency of the EU's Council
began at the start of the year. It rotates every six months between the
twenty-seven EU member states. Poland has now assumed this role for the second
time. Polish prime minister Donald Tusk has a lot of experience with the way
the Council works. He was not only President of the EC between 2014 and 2019,
but was also responsible for Poland's first Council Presidency in 2011 during
his first term as prime minister.
The Polish Presidency also marks the start
of a new presidency trio. The trio always consists of three Council
presidencies, who coordinate the Council's long-term objectives with each other.
Poland shares the trio with Denmark and Cyprus. As part of their eighteen-month
programme, the three countries have agreed to work on Europe's
competitiveness, democratic values and security during their presidencies.
Focusing on the well-being of EU citizens
In keeping with the motto "Security,
Europe!", the Polish presidential
programme will focus on the following seven security dimensions up to the
end of June:
- Protecting people and borders
- Defence and security
- Resistance to foreign interference
and disinformation
- Ensuring security and freedom
of business
- Energy transition
- Competitive and resilient
agriculture
- Health security
The latter also includes pharmaceutical
drug safety. Poland wants to pay special attention to the interests of patients
during the debates about critical medicines, supply reliability and ensuring
availability. Other healthcare policy priorities will include the digital
transformation of the healthcare system, the mental health of children and
adolescents, as well as health promotion and disease prevention. The development
of cross-border services in the eHealth sector is one of the objectives of the
Council Presidency, as is the exchanging of information relating to
health-promoting practices.
Demographic and digital transformation
Although employment, equality and social
affairs, like health, are not among the top priorities of the Council
Presidency, Poland has nevertheless also set priorities with regard to the
employment and social policy sectors. The focus will be on the future of
working in digital Europe, the challenges posed by an ageing population as well
as the creation of a Europe of cohesion, equality and inclusion. Moreover, Poland
wants to pursue the further development of the European Pillar of Social Rights
and deal with how to protect labour rights in times of digital change. The
Council Presidency will also continue to push ahead with legislative processes
involving the "One substance, one assessment" reform package and the
Traineeship Directive, which deals with improving working conditions and
combating regular employment relationships disguised as traineeships.