Poland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU

Od 1 stycznia do 30 czerwca 2025 r. trwać będzie prezydencja Polski w Radzie Unii Europejskiej w ramach trio z Danią i Cyprem. Oznacza to współpracę trzech państw sprawujących kolejno po sobie prezydencję z Komisją Europejską w celu przygotowania osiemnastomiesięcznego programu pracy. Na jego podstawie każde z nich opracowuje własny, bardziej szczegółowy program półroczny. Mottem polskiej prezydencji w Radzie Unii Europejskiej jest Bezpieczeństwo, Europo.

The security pillars of the Polish presidency will be: the ability to defend and protect people and borders, resilience to foreign interference and disinformation; ensuring security and freedom of economic activity, energy transition; competitive and resilient agriculture, and health security.

General context

In order to ensure continuity for the presiding member states, a trio system was introduced in 2009. (through the Lisbon Treaty) a trio system was introduced. Each country’s presidency begins on January 1 or July 1 and ends on June 30 or December 31, respectively.

Przedstawiciele państwa sprawującego prezydencję w Radzie Unii Europejskiej, zarówno na szczeblu ministerialnym, jak i eksperckim, są odpowiedzialni za ustalanie porządku obrad posiedzeń poszczególnych gremiów Rady UE oraz prowadzenie negocjacji w gronie państw członkowskich. Polska po raz pierwszy prezydencję w Radzie Unii Europejskiej sprawowała w drugiej połowie 2011 r. i już wówczas współpracowała z Danią i Cyprem.

Main areas of activity of the Council of the European Union

The Council of the European Union operates within the following bodies:

• General Affairs Council (GAC);
• Foreign Affairs Council (FAC);
• Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN);
• Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA);
• Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO);
• Competitiveness Council (COMPET);
• Council for Transport, Telecommunications and Energy (TTE);
• Council on Agriculture and Fisheries (AGRIFISH);
• Environmental Affairs Council (ENVI);
• Education, Youth, Culture and Sports Council (EYCS).

Program of the Polish Presidency of the EU Council

In December 2024, the Government of the Republic of Poland adopted a program for the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The aim of the presidency is to ensure Europe’s security in the broadest sense, and the key objectives include:

• defense and security;
• Protection of people and borders;
• Resistance to foreign interference and disinformation;
• Ensuring security and freedom of economic activity;
• health security;
• energy transition;
• competitive and resilient agriculture. The Polish presidency will aim to:
  • shaping a strong Common Agricultural Policy that supports farmers and rural development;
  • encourage, rather than force, farmers to take measures that will protect the environment and show the benefits of combating and preventing the effects of climate change.

Water under the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU

The Polish Presidency’s program of work in ENVI indicates:

The work of the Environmental Council will focus on measures to build the resilience of the environment and societies to climate change. We will emphasize the tangible benefits that healthy and stable ecosystems provide to societies. We will emphasize issues of legislation regarding access to resources of critical importance to humans, such as water and soil . (…)

The Polish presidency will focus on issues of security in the face of climate change, environmental and societal resilience, and will support EU efforts to prepare a climate adaptation plan for the EU. The natural disasters experienced by the EU, including the recent floods in Europe, underscore the need to develop measures to mitigate the effects of increasingly dangerous weather events. (…)

In the area of water management, the Presidency will focus on the continuation and possible finalization of legislative work on draft amendments to directives on priority substances in water. It is also looking forward to a communication on water resilience (water resilience).

As part of AGRI’s work, we can read:

In the area of agriculture, the Polish Presidency will hold a political debate on the Vision for Agriculture and Food announced by the European Commission. The results of this discussion will be an important input for, among other things, determining the shape of the CAP after 2027. Future CAP solutions will be crucial for food security and stabilization of farmers’ incomes. They must also be conducive to building and maintaining a competitive and resilient European agriculture and rural development. They should support the transformation needed to address environmental and climate challenges, including access to water.

Agriculture under the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU

Aspekty wodne są ważne dla różnych sektorów, w tym rolnictwa. Priorytety polskiej prezydencji w Radzie Unii Europejskiej w obszarze rolnictwa zostały zaprezentowane przez ministra Czesława Siekierskiego podczas konferencji prasowej 19 grudnia 2024 r. Prace skoncentrowane będą na działaniach niezbędnych dla poprawy konkurencyjności sektora oraz zwiększenia jego odporności na kryzysy. Wśród kluczowych tematów, które będą poruszane na posiedzeniach AGRIFISH wskazano:

• Vision for Agriculture and Food strategy (goal: to focus on elements that are key to the future CAP and other EU policies, i.e.: competitiveness, profitability and resilience of agriculture; support for rural development; support for generational exchange; support for transformation towards sustainable methods; access to water; simplification; EU enlargement);
• Simplifying the green architecture of the Common Agricultural Policy;
• implementing the principle of rural proofing;
• Empowering farmers in the food chain;
• The situation in agricultural markets;
• trade-related matters;
• research, innovation and digitization.