Just The Facts | Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU

“For Europe, this is the time of trial and decision.”

Programme of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union

From January until the end of June 2025, Poland will take up the role of chairing the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, also known as the Council. This is the second time Poland is holding the rotating presidency of the Council, and this time it is as part of a “presidency trio” with Denmark and Cyprus. The Polish presidency is the first phase of the trio, with Denmark taking over in July. During this time, Poland will coordinate the 27 Member States by chairing meetings at every level in the Council. The country will have an influential role in terms of where the EU puts its focus in terms of legislative process. Poland will be able to drive the agenda (which topics are discussed, and which topics are not discussed) and will take this role of brokering agreements and compromise. This Just the Facts delves into Poland’s presidency programme, priorities, and politics.

What does it mean to hold the presidency of the Council of the EU?

Unlike other EU institutions such as the European Parliament and the European Commission, the presidency of the Council is not held by an individual, but rather by a whole country. The work of this institution is led by a different Member State every six months. There is also no election for this process. Rather, each EU country gets its turn which comes around every 13-and-a half years.

Rotating Presidencies

The presidency of the Council is not to be confused with the president of the European Council (the institution which comprises the heads of state or government of EU countries), a role which is currently held by António Costa.

The presidency has two main tasks; planning and chairing meetings in the Council and its preparatory bodies and representing the Council in relations with the other EU institutions, including in interinstitutional negotiations. The presidency must ensure the continuity of the EU’s agenda, sound law-making, and cooperation among Member States by acting as an “honest broker” and rising above national interest.

Priorities

The logo for the Polish presidency, a Polish flag merged with the letters “EU”, is intended to mark the country’s “return to the mainstream of European debate” and symbolise the “rebirth of Polish democracy and civil society”. A reflection of Poland’s tradition of the “Solidarity trade union”, the logo was designed by Jerzy Janiszewski, the designer of the famous Solidarity symbol created in 1980. Additionally. the Polish presidency also chose an “official fruit” – apples – with the Polish Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development concluding a contract to supply more than 82,000 apples from the Grójec region (also known as the “largest orchard in Europe”) for meetings organised as part of the Presidency. Poland is the largest apple producer in the EU and the fourth-largest globally.

The chosen motto for the presidency, ‘Security, Europe!’ demonstrates the Polish presidency’s top priority. which is European security “in all its dimensions”. During a joint press conference with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Poland was taking over the presidency at a “crucial time”. He highlighted the challenges at play in Europe, including Russia’s war in Ukraine, political destabilisation across the continent, as well as other geopolitical issues in countries such as Georgia, Belarus, Syria, and South Korea.

There are seven “security dimensions” in particular that Poland intends to prioritise:

External: Defence and security

The presidency will push for “in-depth” debates on defence financing in the EU in order to boost “defence readiness”. It will support key defence and dual-use infrastructure such as the East Shield and the Baltic Defence Line, which are essentially military fortification projects aimed at bolstering regional security and put forward by Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The Polish presidency will also prioritise “strengthening cooperation with NATO and like-minded non-EU countries”, including the US, as well as the UK, and South Korea.

Internal: Protection of people and borders

Another priority includes addressing migration challenges by working to “reduce irregular migration” and “strengthen the effectiveness of return policy”. It will also work towards an adequate EU-level response to “hybrid threats”, in particular the “instrumentalisation of migration”.

Information: Resistance to foreign interference and disinformation

Democratic resilience, and the elimination of disinformation and foreign manipulation is another dimension in Poland’s priorities. A special focus during the six months will be combating climate disinformation. The presidency plans to increase coordination among Member States as regards fighting disinformation, especially crisis situations of interference with EU information systems by third countries.

Economic: Ensuring security and freedom of business

Reducing bureaucratic burdens for businesses will be important for the Polish presidency, as well as improving access to private capital. The presidency will look to support mechanisms (while maintaining a level playing field in the EU) for industries with a security dimension. The improvement of trade policy instruments will also be a focus.

Energy Transition

The presidency will promote actions aimed at a “full withdrawal from imports of Russian energy sources” and will also strive to reduce energy prices in the EU as well as the dependence on imported energy technologies and the critical raw materials necessary to manufacture them.

Food: Competitive and resilient agriculture

The sixth security dimension is food security and agricultural resilience. The presidency will look to ensure that “non-EU producers comply with EU food quality, safety and sustainability standards” and will strive for a Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that “encourages” rather than “forces” farmers to take action to protect the environment. During the six-month term, it also intends to look at the challenges that future enlargement will bring to the sector.

Health Security

The seventh and last security dimension as listed in the Polish presidency’s priorities is the digital transformation of healthcare, the diversification of the EU’s medicine supply chain, and support for the EU production of medicines. A particular focus will be on improving the mental health of children and adolescents in the digital age.

Programme and key legislative files

During the six months, 300 official meetings will take place in total across 24 cities in Poland. The previous Council presidency, which was held by Hungary, saw the transition of power in the various EU institutions, with the re-election of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, a new College of Commissioners, and a new legislative term in the European Parliament with 720 MEPs (half of which are new to the institution). During this inaugural period in 2024, much of the EU’s legislative work ground to a halt, with only nine files closed with trilogue agreements. Therefore, the legislative files that needed to be tackled before Hungary’s presidency still remain, with the addition of several files which have now arrived at the negotiation phase.

Some key upcoming legislative files include:

Multiannual Financial Framework: It is during the Polish presidency that discussions will begin on the post-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), the EU’s long-term budget. However, it is not expected that any formal negotiations take place during the six-month tenure. A conference on the next MFF is due to take place on 17 February.
European Defence Industry Programme: With Poland’s top priority as security, the presidency is ambitious to start and conclude negotiations with the European Parliament once MEPs have reached their position.
Economic initiatives: Among other financial and economic files, the Polish presidency is looking to make progress on the payment services package, the digital euro files, the Union Customs Code and Customs Authority, and the Late Payment Directive. Among other budgetary files, the presidency wants to begin discussions with the Parliament and closing the legislative procedure on Moldova’s Reform and Growth Facility.
Migration: As a key priority for the Polish presidency, various files regarding migration may enter the trilogue negotiation phase. The most notable files will be the possible new versions of the Returns Directive(early 2025) and the instrumentalisation of migration. The presidency also plans to prioritise two files on the smuggling of migrants and asylum-seekers (relating to transport operators and Europol) and another the revision of the Visa Suspension Mechanism. We may see possible negotiations on the EU Talent Pool after March once the Parliament establishes its position. Additionally, the presidency is ambitious to find an agreement with the Parliament on the recently proposed temporary derogation from the Entry/Exit System.
Environment: The Polish presidency intends to continue trilogue negotiations on environmental policies that are already underway, including the Soil Monitoring Lawand the Waste Framework Directive. Additionally, the presidency intends to start negotiations with the Parliament on other files such as the Green Claims Directive and also to reach a political agreement on the proposed regulation on end-of-life vehicles.
Other: Of course, there are many other issues that will come across the desk of the Polish presidency – not least the Toy Safety Directive (see our recent Just the Facts on this file here). See the full list of priority dossiers at the link listed in the resources below.

Poland’s Presidential Elections

The Polish presidency also comes at an important time in the domestic politics of the country. It is just over one year since Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s coalition including the political groups Civic Coalition, The Third Way, and The Left ousted the conservative Law and Justice party (PiS). The PiS-led government was heavily scrutinised by the EU during the eight years it governed, on account of serious rule of law issues, as well as its stances on immigration and social rights. Read our Just the Facts on the October 2023 Polish general elections here.

Poland is also due to have presidential elections during the Council presidency term on 18 May, with campaigns beginning officially on 15 January. The current Polish president is Andrzej Duda who is in line with the opposition PiS party. It is important for Donald Tusk’s coalition because the president in Poland has the power to veto legislation. Thus, if their candidate, Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, wins the presidency their legislation will no longer be blocked by the president, which has been the case under Duda’s presidency who has used his presidential veto to block certain initiatives. PiS’ candidate is historian Karol Nawrocki. According to the most recent poll (13 January) conducted by Opinii24 for RMF FM, the Civic Coalition candidate, Rafał Trzaskowski is on approximately 30% and PiS’ Karol Nawrocki is on about 23%.

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