From June 8 to 10, the plenary conference of the parliamentary committees on European Affairs of the European Union (EU) took place in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. The agenda included the results of the priorities under the Polish EU presidency, the strategic agenda of the EU, the new Multiannual Financial Framework, EU enlargement, and cybersecurity and disinformation. Poland is currently the presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU). The Polish parliament organized this so-called LXXIII COSAC. From the Senate, Bastiaan van Apeldoorn (SP), chairman of the committee on European Affairs, Bastiaan van Apeldoorn, and committee member Cees van de Sanden (VVD) participated.
Industrial Policy, Rule of Law, and Enlargement
Van Apeldoorn advocated in the first session for a European industrial policy that serves the needs of the European economy and citizens. During the second session, Van Apeldoorn called for strict adherence to the rule of law requirement for member states and the importance of increasing transparency in EU decision-making. In the session on EU enlargement, Van Apeldoorn emphasized that accession can only be possible with strict compliance with the Copenhagen criteria, internal reforms in the EU may be necessary, and enlargement must also have sufficient support among EU citizens.
Digital Resilience
Van de Sanden called during the fifth session for a joint European approach to digital resilience and leveraging the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI). The Senate delegation included two additional paragraphs in the contributions of this meeting regarding the opportunities and threats of AI concerning digital resilience and disinformation.