Sejm after four years from the adoption of the Treaty of Lisbon

The article attempts to give a comprehensive analysis of the legal and parliamentary practice in Poland, made after four years from the adoption of the Treaty of Lisbon. The special focus is given to three issues: regulations of the so-called cooperation law, regulations of the Rules of Procedure of the Sejm for the Committee of the European Union and the practical aspects of proceedings of the EU legislative proposals in the Sejm. The starting point of the above analysis is protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon, which impose on the EU institutions to directly inform national parliaments of the content of EU legislative proposals for which is provided to express an opinion. Therefore, the Lisbon’s Treaty confers on Polish parliament the power having the nature of a veto in relation to decision reducing sovereign rights of Poland as the one of the member states. However, the present role of the Sejm in the functioning of the EU depends on its ability to exert a real influence on the European policy conducting by the government, which is related with a possibility of concluding the political consensus on the national level. The author suggests that for supervision of the EU’s principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, not only greater activeness of Polish parliament, but also providing mechanisms for the enforcement of the members of the Council of Ministers of the political responsibility for their actions in the EU institutions, is required. Otherwise, the solutions adopted in the Treaty of Lisbon will not affect on the existing European policy way in Poland, which leads government.

The Main Factors Determining the Process of Shaping the Basis of the Polish Parliamentary System in the First Stage of the Political Transformation (1989–1991)

The article is devoted to the functioning of the Polish parliamentary system during the period of the political transformation in the years 1989–1991. A study of the phenomena that occurred in those times is particularly important in connection with the fact that it was then when the systemic position of the Polish parliament was taking shape. The years 1989–1991 were especially important as they included political decisions made by the Round Table, their systemic realization in the Constitutional Amendment of April 7, 1989 and the following elections statutes for the Seym and the Senate, as well as in the constitutional output of the Seym of the 10th term and the Senate of the 1st term and in the practice of both chambers of the parliament. Those transformations were obviously based on two rudimentary fundaments: a new shape of the parliament, especially in terms of its creation and structure, and in reactivation the office of the president. Both spheres were interconnected both on the systemic plain and – which determined the specific character of this system – also on the political plain.