Speaker 1pl
Ms. Counsel, you are accompanied by the Marshal. We may begin, Mr President.
Speaker 2pl
Good morning to you all.
Speaker 3en
A very good morning to all of you, ladies and gentlemen. I'm resuming this session, Adama Gomoło.
Speaker 3pl
Jacek Niedźwiecki and Weronika Smarduch, Adrian Wicza-Kulbis, Secretaries to this session,
Speaker 3en
and the first round, Weronika Smarduch, Adrian Wicza-Kulbis Secretaries. A list of speakers and minutes will be taken by Madam Smarduch and Mr. Niedźwiecki. The committees have come up with reports on revised law on higher education and science, and some other three. 33, and the revised law on education and science, 3000.
Speaker 2pl
At another senior citizens' convention, I decided to supplement the agenda with points covering the consideration of these reports. Under Article 51, paragraph 2 of the Rules of Procedure of the Sejm, entitled entities have submitted motions to proceed to second readings without observing the deadline set out in Article 44, paragraph 3 of the Rules of Procedure of the Sejm. The sponsors justify the motions by the importance of the matters addressed in these draft laws. I will put these motions to the vote in turn. We are proceeding to the vote. On the report by the Committee on the Government Bill on the Amendment to the Act on Higher Education and Science and Certain Other Acts. Which of the ladies and gentlemen of the Members of Parliament are in favour of adopting the motion to proceed to the second reading without observing the deadline set out in Article 44(3) of the Rules of Procedure of the Sejm? Those in favour of the draft law contained in the report from print number 3303, please raise your hand and press the button. Who is against? Who abstained? Thank you. 416 MPs voted, 263 in favour, 152 against, and 1 abstained. The Sejm adopted the motion. We now proceed to the vote on the committee report on the Government's draft Act amending the Act on Higher Education and Science. Which of the ladies and gentlemen Members of Parliament are in favour of adopting the motion to proceed to the second reading without observing the deadline set out in Article 44(3) of the Rules of Procedure? I invite the Members to raise their hands and press the voting button for the draft law contained in the report from print No 3304. Who is against? Who abstained? Thank you. 417 Members voted, 264 in favour, 152 against, 1 abstention. The Sejm has adopted the motion. Madam Speaker, I welcome to Poland the President of the European Parliament, Ms Roberta Metsola, who is here on an official visit with a delegation.
I welcome the Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland, Ms Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, I welcome the Members of the European Parliament present in the gallery who will be listening to the speech by the President, Roberta Metsola. The Polish Sejm and Senate are actively participating in the work at the EU forum. In the Sejm, we highly value the activities of the Committee on of the European Union, chaired by Ms Agnieszka Pomacka. Polish parliamentarians are taking part in numerous forms of parliamentary cooperation national parliaments of European Union Member States, as well as in debates organised by the European Parliament. Here, they often have the opportunity to collaborate with female and male Members of the European Parliament. We are all the more pleased by the presence of MEPs at today’s sitting. I now call on the President of the European Parliament, Ms Roberta Metsola, to take the floor.
Speaker 4en
Okay. Mr. Marshall, Prime Minister, Honourable Members, of the same senators, members, of the European Parliament, Excellencies.
Speaker 4pl
Mr President Biżoga, thank you.
Speaker 4en
For. Inviting me to address this House, dziękuję bardzo.
Speaker 4pl
Wislawa Szymborska's 'Once Road' was published.
Speaker 4en
that we only know ourselves as far as we have been tested. If that is true of people, it is true of nations too. And very few nations have been tested like Poland. Yet Poland has always shown what it means to emerge stronger. Fairer. And prouder. The toughest steel is forged in the hottest of fires. And Polish steel like Polish spirit is unbreakable. Dear friends, dear friends, I am the President of the European Parliament, I am a mother of four boys, I am a proud daughter of the Mediterranean, from an island in the middle of our southern sea. I am a patriot, and I am a European. Those of us from the Karol Wojtyła generation know that there is no contradiction in those two terms. As children, we saw the fall of the wall. The end of communism and felt the optimism that solidarność embodied not only for Poles, but for all Europeans. We were guided by the Cardinal from Kraków, who became our Pope, and called on us, "Be not afraid! " Be not afraid! As teenagers, we were shaped by his message of freedom, peace, and dignity. As democracy came back, as students we listened as he spoke of hope for Europe despite his public suffering. And as adults, we celebrated as he was canonized Saint John Paul II. My generation knows what a Europe with and without the European Union looks like. We are far from perfect. We must be open to reform, to change, to fix what is needed. But ultimately, a world with the European Union in it is a better place for all of us. And sometimes it is necessary to remind ourselves and the people that we serve of what is at stake: of how far we have come together, of what we can lose, so it is an enormous honor to stand here as a representative of the European Parliament in this historic nation chamber of this great nation and speak today. Poland has always felt like home to me. We joined— We joined the EU on the same day. We share so much. My sister studied here, and as a student I traveled across this country and every time I come back it feels like coming back to old friends.
Our— Now, our challenge in the EU today is to do more, to rediscover the enthusiasm and hope that swept our countries in 2004. To return to the big bold courageous ideas that make a real difference in people's lives. Ideas that we can deliver on at speed that place our union as the global player we know it to be. To ensure that we are truly an accelerator of growth. To end the unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy. Acting as a brake on European innovation. To rally with one another when we face down common threats to our security and our people's safety. Now, I am not here to lecture and I am not here to preach. I am here for all of us to roll up our sleeves and work together. Poland is a proud nation. Baptized more than a thousand years ago, that gave Europe its first modern written constitution. That held the line at the gates of Warsaw in 1920 and held it for all of us. That in many respects holds the line still. Through 123 years of partitions, Poland never once stopped being Poland. Your anthem was born in those years with a promise:
Speaker 4pl
Poland has not yet perished, so long as we still live.
Speaker 4en
And you kept and you kept that promise in your language, in your culture, and in your families. Then came the occupation. War. And half a century behind the iron curtain, where Poles were told what to think, what they could say, and where they could travel. Where fear ruled. The evils of totalitarianism and communism were felt by every family in this country. But it is not the bleakness and suffering of those years that marks Poland. It is how you responded that the world looks at. Poland was tested, and it was Poles who stepped forward. From the shipyard in Gdańsk, with solidarność at the round table and in the elections of June 1989, Poland showed the world that the system could be beaten, and then Poland did something remarkable, almost overnight. You chose freedom, democracy, democracy. And open economy. And you never looked back. You know, there is a saying about those who make the loudest noises. Now, you stood up. It took courage. And it asked a great deal of a whole generation. You built again and you promised never again. You had those big courageous ideas and you delivered them. And that, in many respects, is also the story of Europe. And I see the European Union as the guarantee of that promise made in 1989. Of freedom, of dignity, of security. Of hope. That's what Europe must mean for so many. In a single generation, income per person in Poland has grown more than eightfold. Since you joined the EU, your economy has grown twice as fast as the European average. You are now counted among the 20 largest economies in the world and will soon take your place at the G20 table, hopefully permanently. Now, people call it the Polish miracle. But this was about hard work. It was built by millions of Poles who got up early, set up businesses, went to other EU states to learn, and came home to build and refused to accept that their children should have any less than anyone else in Europe. And Europe— And Europe was proud to be part of that journey. Membership opened doors to new markets and new investment, to universities, and to a whole
continent of opportunity for young Poles. And this was never a one-way street. Poland brought its energy. Its talent. And ambition into our union. And today it is at its heart. Pushing Europe forward. It is Poland who warned about the threat from the East. It is Poland who tells us, when we go too far, too fast, or not far enough, your government asked entrepreneurs which rules were holding them back, and hundreds of their ideas have been taken forward. That is the spirit that we are bringing to Brussels and Strasbourg. Because, you know, sometimes, just sometimes, Europe writes rules with the best of intentions. That end up weighing on the very people they were meant to help. So the European Parliament has been delivering on one simplification package after another, taking around 9 in 10 companies out of sustainability reporting, helping secure our energy supplies as we decoupled from Russia. Fixing our defense and security systems. And clearing paperwork of our farmers' desks. Bringing billions of euros a year back to the people who create jobs putting affordability and fairness at the heart of what we do. But simplification is only the start. Ultimately, Europe has to be a place where it pays to invest, to make things, and to grow. And our single market is at the center of that. It is the reason a company in Poznań or Bydgoszcz can sell to customers in Lisbon or Helsinki without filling in a single customs form. The reason that so many investors have chosen Poland and a big part of the reason Polish growth has been so strong for two decades. Now we must take it further. A single market that works as one in energy, in capital, and in services. With energy prices that do not hold our industry back. And rules that are clear and predictable. And we can do it in our unique European way, with open markets, and social safety nets, so that the people have the freedom to take the risk and the security of knowing that they will not be left behind. Last June, in Łódź, where the University of Technology did me the great honor of welcoming
me to its community, I met a city that had to rebuild itself. And is proud that it did. It is the same story in Gdańsk and Kraków, in Lublin, Rzeszów, and Białystok. And in thousands of towns and villages in a new road a restored market square. New sports facilities. That, too, is Europe in action. Real, concrete, and tangible investments in improving lives. Now, I know there are worries. From farmers about their incomes and fair competition. From smaller towns about young people leaving from regions afraid that decisions about them will be taken further and further away. Now, these are fair concerns and we hear them. And that is why, in our position on Europe's next long-term budget, the European Parliament understood the task we were given and why we stand with our farmers, while we push for real investments in young people, in Erasmus, Horizon, for example. And why we want regions to have a real say, particularly the Eastern regions along the borders with Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. Which carry a weight on behalf of all of us that Europe must recognize. Wysoka Izbo. Poland also saw the danger coming long before the rest of us. For years, you warned us about Russia. About energy dependence. About what the Kremlin was capable of. And too many in Europe did not listen. Now you are right. Europe should have heard you sooner. Today, no. Buddy needs convincing. Your presidency of the Council of the European Union put security at the top of Europe's agenda. You are building the East Shield and you are the first to draw on Europe's new defense funding, with almost 44 billion euros coming here—most of it spent with Polish companies. And Poland— And Poland has now been chosen to host the only center outside the United States for servicing the packed missiles that arm patriot air defense systems. So what you are building protects us all, too. The Via Baltica is a lifeline for the Baltic states. And the Suwałki Gap is one of the most sensitive places on our continent. What happens there impacts Brussels as much as Vilnius.
This time last year, I visited a NATO base in Latvia. Where Polish soldiers serve alongside troops from across the alliance. Young men and women standing guard over a freedom the rest of us too often take for granted. We owe them an everyone who wears the uniform a great deal more than words. Much more. That is why Europe has put its money where its mouth is and invested in defense and security. Poland knows what it means to stand on Europe's front line. Whether it is the illegal Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, or the instrumentalization of migration at your border with Belarus, drones over your territory, or sabotage on railway lines. You have met all of it with determination and clarity of purpose. These threats are designed to test our resolve: divide our societies and undermine our democracies. And across our Union, all of us now face them. When Poland's security is tested, Europe's security is tested. And we must, and we will, stand together to face it down, shoulder to shoulder. We will never forget that when Russia's war came to Ukraine's door, Poland opened its own. In those first days, people crossing at Medica and Dorohusk were met by Polish families with hot soup and warm blankets. At Przemyśl station, rows of empty prams stood waiting on the platform for mothers stepping off the trains with babies in their arms. I was in Otwock at schools in those early days, watching Polish teachers comfort children that they never met. Mothers cooking meals for young girls, who could not understand what happened to their country. That was European solidarity at its truest. It was a test. It was a test of Polish character in the worst of circumstances and you showed the very best of this country. So, colleagues, no big idea, no response to any test happens by accident. Every choice was argued over and carried through by elected representatives in chambers like this one. Because I believe unapologetically that parliamentary democracy is the best model we have.
But it is up to all of us to prove that it works. FUNO— FUNO what it costs better than Poland, where it took until 1991 for every seat in this chamber to be chosen freely by the people. And that right comes with a duty. To show people that the arguments made in here lead somewhere. And Poland has shown the whole of Europe something else. That democratic institutions can be built and rebuilt in a single generation. But they are never finished. We must keep building—keep safeguarding—our values. Keep reminding people what is possible. What has happened in our past. And why every generation must protect our democracies. And that is also why a directly elected European Parliament is so important. Its members answer directly to voters at home, in Polish towns, and regions. And I must say, Poland's representatives—your representatives—from different political families, I see many here, today, do that work with real dedication. Making Poland's voice heard in every debate. Now, people—our voters—want to see results. They want proof that dialogue and compromise can still deliver for their families. That means cutting through the noise. Reaching across political divides. And never ever taking voters for granted. It means cooperation over confrontation. It means being able to get our message across better in a sea of disinformation, half-truths, and misinformation. Amplified online and sometimes weaponized by malign actors for whom our Europe is a threat. Now, people in every country do not want moralizing. They want action. They do not want Europe to be far away. They do not want representatives to speak in acronyms that they don't understand. They want—like many of us—to be European, and patriots at the same time. They reject the confines of narrow, inward-looking nationalism. But equally cherish their local identities. And they expect Europe to understand that. To preserve our shared values. But to never be afraid to change. With the times. To pass laws that make their lives simpler.
More prosperous. Fairer. Freer. And safer. It is not too much to ask. And it cannot be too much. To deliver. So let me be emphatic: Europe is not about making everybody the same. It is about the opposite. It is about finding strength in our differences and respecting our traditions, our histories, and languages. This project of ours is not about any imposition from Brussels. It is about sharing the challenges and understanding that when we act together, with common purpose, every member state is a superpower. It is also about the understanding that the best decisions are taken closest to the people they impact the most. So we need to show that Europe is also able to deliver for a younger generation. Who do not remember the battles of the past, be it surviving war, defeating communism, or joining the European Union. Every time I visit a member state, I make it a point to hold a town hall meeting with young people. And I did that yesterday. At Warsaw School of Economics. And a few minutes with Poland's youth is enough to convince anyone that the future will be in very good hands. Young Poles are confident. Many speaking three or four languages. Looking at the rest of the world as equals, open to the world, yet rooted at home with the quiet certainty that a way can always be found.
Speaker 4pl
A Pole can do it, as you say.
Speaker 4en
— Now, our job, yours, and mine, is to give them every reason to build their future here. In Poland. And in Europe. It is the people of this land who best tell its story. The land that gave the world King Jan Sobieski. Mikołaj Kopernik. And Maria Skłodowska-Curie. Witold Pilecki and Jan Karski. Frederick Chopin. Maximilian Colbert and Karol Wojtyła. Lech Wałęsa and Jerzy Buzek. And so many more. They have more to the list, shall we add more to the list? So many more. So many more. Who bore witness as you faced every test on the way. From communism to freedom. From freedom to democracy. From democracy to growth. And from growth to the security of our whole Eastern flank. Now comes a different kind of test. The test of leadership. And I know that Poland will meet it. You are already shaping Europe's choices on defense and enlargement, on competitiveness, and on how we stand by Ukraine. And in the years ahead, Europe will need Poland's voice. Poland's experience. And Poland's confidence. More than ever. And leadership in Europe is also about the quieter things. Keeping our word. Doing the work we were elected and appointed to do. And respecting the rules we wrote together. So my message to you today is simple. Seize this moment. Keep believing. Lead. If there are things to change, let's do that together. Europe is you, not anyone else. Not anyone else. In May 2003, just weeks before Poles voted to join our union, Pope John Paul II said it very simply:
Speaker 4pl
Europe needs Poland, Poland needs Europe.
Speaker 4en
Europe needs Poland. And Poland needs Europe. It was true then. And it is true today. So long live our parliaments. Long live Poland. Long live Europe. Dziękuję bardzo.
Speaker 4pl
Thank you. Thank you very much indeed. I manage 10.