The Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which begins on 1 January, has set security as the cross-cutting priority (see EUROPE 13542/22). In the economic and financial sphere, it therefore wishes to raise the question of the financing of security and defence, as the Polish finance minister, Andrzej Domański, recently indicated during a visit to Brussels (see EUROPE 13543/15).
According to the minister, “a common European solution” is needed to help the Member States invest more in research and defence capabilities. Following the presentation of the Commission’s white paper in early 2025, the European finance ministers will discuss this issue at their informal meeting in Warsaw in the spring.
In the same vein, the Polish authorities wish to continue discussions on how the EIB could become more involved in financing the defence sector (see EUROPE 13407/7).
At Ecofin Council meetings, the Polish Presidency intends to provide regular updates on the implementation of the €50 billion Ukraine Facility for 2024-2027. It will actively support work on the use of the profits generated by the Bank of Russia’s immobilised assets, which form the basis of loans to Ukraine worth $50 billion from the G7 countries ($20 billion from the EU).
Finance. An ardent defender of deepening the internal market, Poland intends to make progress in the European integration of capital markets so that private investors can finance the climate and digital transitions to a greater extent.
This will involve “prioritising” work on the legislative texts already on the table. Mr Domański felt that progress could be made in the area of financial securitisation and wanted to re-examine the retail investment strategy (see EUROPE 13543/22).
Other important issues for the Polish authorities are the revision of the European rules governing payment services and the framework for access to financial data (‘FiDA’ - see EUROPE 13538/18).
Banks. In the area of banking, the Polish Presidency will take over negotiations with the European Parliament on the ‘CMDI’ package aimed at strengthening bank crisis management, with the ambitious objective of reaching an interinstitutional agreement by the end of June 2025.
The initial positions of the European Parliament and the EU Council on this issue are far apart (see EUROPE 13435/2).
Stability Pact. In the field of economic and fiscal policies, the Polish Presidency will be responsible for steering the Council’s work during the 2025 exercise of the ‘European Semester’ process, following its launch in two parts by the European Commission (see EUROPE 13548/18, 13532/11).
While the revised Stability and Growth Pact will be fully operational from January 2025, the January Ecofin Council will be called upon to validate the pathways, suggested by the Commission, for reducing the public deficits of the eight countries - including Poland - subject to an excessive deficit procedure.
In its four-year budget programme (see EUROPE 13501/26), the Polish government has set a course aimed at slowing the annual growth in net public spending from 12.5% in 2024 to 3.5% in 2028. The aim is to reduce the public deficit from 5.7% in 2024 to less than 3% of GDP in 2028.
Of the eight countries identified for the slippage in their public finances, Belgium and France were unable to adopt their budgets for 2025 in advance, due to the lack of ruling government. Other countries, such as Germany, Austria and Spain, which do not have excessive public deficits, must also adopt their budgets for next year.
The Polish Presidency would also like the European finance ministers to discuss how to reduce high energy prices in Europe, which are limiting economic competitiveness.
Finally, even though Poland is not part of the euro area, it has promised to push ahead with legislative work on the introduction of the digital euro.
Taxation. In the field of direct taxation, Poland will continue work on ‘DAC 9’, the ninth directive on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation (see EUROPE 13546/17).
Unveiled in October by the European Commission, this ninth version of the directive aims to transpose into Community law the OECD’s information return, which contains data enabling tax administrators to assess a multinational company’s compliance with the worldwide rules against erosion of the tax base (‘GloBE Information Return’ or GIR) (see EUROPE 13513/4).
This work “will help to maintain the competitiveness of the European economy”, according to Poland.
On indirect taxation, “should the Commission present a legislative proposal on the structure of taxation and excise rates applicable to tobacco products, the Presidency will take work forward on this” in the Council, it assures. On Monday 9 December, 16 EU countries called on the Commission to modernise the legislation governing tobacco taxation (see EUROPE 13541/13).
The Polish authorities will also continue work on revising the directive on the taxation of energy products and electricity. The EU Member States were unable to reach agreement on the subject on Tuesday 10 December (see EUROPE 13542/1).
In addition, the Presidency intends to continue efforts to close the value added tax (VAT) gap (see EUROPE 13548/20), in particular by strengthening legislation in the e-commerce sector, as provided for in the reform of the Customs Union (see EUROPE 13543/23).
This reform also includes the creation of an EU Customs Authority. Poland’s aim will be to reach a political agreement in principle in the Council in order to begin negotiations with the European Parliament.
See the Polish Presidency’s programme: https://aeur.eu/f/ewk
See the draft agendas for Council meetings during the first semester of 2025: https://aeur.eu/f/exi (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion and Anne Damiani)