In his address at the session, Minister Rau stressed that Poland is in favour of continuing EU enlargement policy based on established rules and substantive criteria, but without reforming the Treaties. "We attach great importance to the process of harmonising the foreign policy of candidate countries with the common foreign and security policy, also in such difficult political matters as sanctions", he pointed out.

In a debate on the attempts to extend the scope of qualified majority voting, Minister Rau emphasised Poland's sceptical stance. According to the chief of Polish diplomacy, questions of strategic importance for the future European integration should be discussed and decided in a new institutional cycle.

"The Polish government believes that extending the scope of qualified majority voting will not necessarily translate into enhanced EU's effectiveness and, on the contrary, poses a risk of deepening the existing crisis within the EU and differences between its member states", said the minister. He added that this solution also involves a risk of some member states' greater dominance in shaping the common foreign and security policy and, therefore, of undermining the EU's political unity.

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Poland continues its diplomatic efforts at the EU forum to maintain an appropriate dynamic of the enlargement process, with both the Western Balkan and the Eastern Partnership countries. We consistently seek an optimal result, that is a decision to launch accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova at the European Council as soon as in December this year.

 

MFA Press Office 

 

Photo: Barbara Milkowska/MFA