An MEP for Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has rejected claims by news outlet Politico that he signed a document endorsing a radical form of Eurofederalism.
Jacek Saryusz-Wolski has repeatedly decried attempts to expand the European Union in the past, slamming the Conference on the Future of Europe as a “Potemkin village that serves the interests of the centralised federalist project and epitomises the European Union’s flaws and malpractices”.
The Conference on the Future of Europe was a proposal of the European Commission and the European Parliament, announced at the end of 2019, with the aim of looking at the medium- to long-term future of the EU and what reforms should be made to its policies and institutions.
Despite Saryusz-Wolski’s past protestations, Politico claimed on September 1 that he apparently signed a document calling for all EU Member States to surrender exclusive control of “all environmental and climate matters” to Brussels.
Speaking to Brussels Signal, the MEP rejected these claims, saying that while he was involved in the document’s early drafting, he was forced to withdraw due to the pro-Eurofederalist stance of his colleagues.
“Throughout the negotiations, on many occasions, I expressed reservations about the proposed changes presented by the representatives of the other groups,” he said.
“However, my objections not only were not listened to but none of our group’s proposals were accepted.”
Saryusz-Wolski also showed Brussels Signal a message sent to his fellow MEPs announcing his withdrawal from proceedings in August, describing the negations as being “non-transparent and unfair”.
“Changes of a purely political and ideological nature have been pushed through,” he wrote. “Thoroughly substantiated and concrete proposals, which I submitted on behalf of ECR [European Conservatives and Reformists] … were all outright rejected. None of the ECR proposals were included in the final version of the report.”
He went on to describe the document as proposing measures that are “completely ill-considered” and that it contained “a number of changes of a purely political and ideological nature”.
The politician has since been in contact with Politico regarding its mistake, with the publication acknowledging the error on September 4.
Donald Tusk, the leader of Poland’s largest opposition party, has vowed to immediately unblock withheld EU funding for the country if he wins power in October’s general election. https://t.co/mOXrKEqxmv
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) August 29, 2023
Penned by arch-Eurofederalist Guy Verhofstadt, the document also calls for an end to the national veto, as well as for the EC to be renamed as the more authoritative sounding “European Executive”.
One senior EU diplomat described the paper as being a “provocation”, adding that he had received European Council legal advice that the measures are incompatible with the EU’s Lisbon Treaty.
It is not the first time there have been demands for more powers for the bloc, with a number of pro-Eurofederalist politicians from the French, German and Portuguese national governments pushing for new EU-wide taxes to be implemented.
Such taxes, they argue, are now needed to fund the EU’s spiralling debts, which have been built up thanks to EU projects on climate change, and for what will be needed for rebuilding Ukraine after Russia’s invasion.
A George Soros-backed company has taken a majority shareholding in the daily Rzeczpospolita, one of the most influential newspapers in Poland. https://t.co/SvRSlTXhpp
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) August 28, 2023
