Poland's Stance on EU Energy Policy

Poland wants a strong, secure, competitive, uh, European Union.

However, I am convinced that Europe's strength and I stressed this during our discussion today, Europe's strength must be based on the strength of its member states, their economies, and the strength of their citizens.

We cannot accept solutions that weaken European industry, raise families' cost of living, and limit businesses' opportunities to grow.

European climate and energy policy must take into account the competitiveness of the economy and the energy security, uh, of the member states.

Solutions related to the European Green Deal and the ETS system must not lead to, in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, or Hungary, ladies and gentlemen, they simply must not lead to leading to job losses, a weakened industry and a higher cost of living.

We also discussed this, and I feel that we all share this position.

Particular protection is also needed for European agriculture.

Of course, we cannot require European farmers to comply with increasingly stringent standards, while at the same time opening the market to products made under different rules.

Poland consistently supports a migration policy based on responsibility, effective border protection and respect for the powers of nation-states.

We are very pleased, ladies and gentlemen, that the mistakes made by Western Europe passed the Republic of Poland by, uh, Poland, and today we are, at least in this respect, uh, a safe country.

It is also essential to preserve the agency of member states in the European Union's decision-making process.

I also raised this during our discussion and conversation.

I oppose treaty-based solutions. Referring to the words of President Pellegrini, which would lead to restricting the sovereignty of states.

The unanimity rule on matters of fundamental importance is an important guarantee that the interests of all members of the European Union are respected, regardless of their size or economic potential.

Cooperation among the Visegrád Group countries should bring tangible benefits to our citizens and businesses.

Energy security and the development of transport infrastructure are of particular importance. and strengthening economic ties between our countries.

In recent years, Poland has consistently developed infrastructure that enables the diversification of energy resource supplies.

We discussed that as well. In our region, ladies and gentlemen, the issue of, uh, energy resources is also fundamentally a matter of independence.

Thanks to decisions made by Poles in the past, and by the conservative Polish government, we have zero, uh, Russian, uh, resources in Poland, which is also one of the elements of building our independence and sovereignty.

We also want to use this potential, ladies and gentlemen, to strengthen security throughout Central Europe.

Developing energy connections between our countries It also increases the region's resilience against supply disruptions and restrictions, reducing the risk of energy resources being used as a tool of political pressure, um.