Poland to defend principle of unanimity in EU
Poland's policy in the European Union aims to resolutely defend the principle of unanimity and has no plans to resign from this solution either now or in the future, the foreign ministry has written in a statement.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs published the statement on Sunday in connection with proposals appearing in the political domain to introduce the qualified majority voting (QMV) decision-making procedure in matters of the European Union's foreign and security policy," Lukasz Jasina, the foreign ministry's spokesman, wrote.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirms the position on this issue presented recently in the Polish Parliament by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Zbigniew Rau: Poland's policy in the European Union aims to preserve the freedom of Member States in resolutely defending the principle of unanimity where the current legal situation guarantees it and to actually extend the consensus formula to where the legal situation permits the application of qualified majority rule," the statement reads.
Having pointed out that the decision-making process in areas pertaining to the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) of the EU is based on the principle by unanimity, the Foreign Ministry wrote that "this principle and the intergovernmental character of this policy ensures that the interests of all EU Members are guaranteed and that the voice of each country is taken into account, regardless its size or population."
According to the ministry, they also ensure that any decision concerning the matters of war and peace belong to the sovereign rights of each Member State.
The foreign ministry also wrote that the constructive abstention mechanism allowed all EU members to adhere to national specificities without blocking a decision of the organisation.
"In fact, the value of unanimity has already on more than one occasion saved Member States from making strategic mistakes with highly negative consequences for EU security," the ministry added.
