INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
Cooperation in the field of the European Union preparatory bodies
European Commission
Around 57 ARMA's experts participate in the works of 25 committees of the European Commission. The committees assist the European Commission in the process of implementing rules and are regularly consulted before a new proposal of legislation is drawn. The committees, consisting of representatives from MS and chaired by the Commission, are forums for discussion and enable the Commission to establish dialogue with national administrations before adopting legal acts. Some more important committees include: Simplification Expert Group, Agricultural Funds Committee, Committee on Agricultural Structures and Rural Development, Rural Development Committee, Management Committee on Direct Payments, Management Committee for Beef and Veal.
Documents prepared by the European Commission Directions are distributed among ARMA's experts via the CIRCA website (Communication & Information Resource Centre Administrator), which is a public register of these documents and an extranet tool, composed of various interest groups and allowing experts to share documents on a given issue.
Council of the European Union
Around 50 ARMA's experts participate in the works of 22 working groups of the Council of the European Union. Council working groups and committees are responsible for preparing all technical issues of a dossier before it is referred to Coreper / SCA and finally to ministerial level during the Council of the European Union. ARMA's experts assist experts of the Ministry for Agriculture and Rural Development in the preparations of the Polish position for the meetings of the European Union working groups. They participate in this process by means of a special IT platform, Electronic Exchange of Documents – Poland, along with experts from other Polish ministries and government bodies. The documents from the General Secretariat of the Council, European Commission, Permanent Representation of Poland to the European Union and the European Parliament are distributed among ARMA's experts via the mailbox "Coordination".
Polish Presidency of the Council
ARMA actively participates in the preparations for the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2011, coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The preparations consist in contributing to the general framework of priorities in the field of agriculture and fisheries and to planning the agenda of the Council meetings during the Presidency. ARMA contributed to the preparations of dossiers concerning direct payments after 2013 and the role of the 2nd pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy under rural development programmes. Special attention during the Polish Presidency will focus on dossiers relative to animal health, food safety and quality, support for less-favoured areas, phytosanitary issues. Other points on the agenda will relate to the Common Market Organization of Agricultural Markets and Common Fisheries Policy.
Together with Agricultural Market Agency, ARMA started preparations to the organization of the XXX Conference of the Directors of the EU Paying Agencies, planned in September of 2011. Additionally, ARMA set the general guidelines of the meeting of agricultural attaches in June of 2011, which will also be an opportunity to present the objectives and priorities of the Polish Presidency.
Participation in conferences
In 2010, ARMA representatives actively participated in international meetings and conferences, i.e.:
27th Conference of EU paying Agencies which took place in Oviedo, Spain, from 28th to 30th April 2010. The paying agencies of all Member States, the European Commission, the European Court of Auditors, the Conciliation Body and two delegations from candidate countries, Croatia and Turkey, took part in the conference. The main subjects of discussions were: management and control in the framework of Council Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005 on the financing of the common agricultural policy and improvements to take into account for the new financial period after 2013; good practice in checks, to correct the weaknesses identified in the Commission's inspection tasks; relation between management authority and paying agency in the context of rural development programmes over the 2007-2013 period.
Control Methods Workshop organized by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (13, 14 April 2010) dedicated to presentations and discussions on the rules and recommendations for the 2010 campaign of on-the spot checks and LPiS Quality Assurance exercise to be carried by the end of 2010.
Panta Rhei XXXVII Conference (19th to 21st May 2010) in Porto, Portugal, consisting in the exchange of experiences and expertise in the field of information technology between European paying agencies, in order to better implement the European Common Agricultural Policy.
43rd meeting of the Committee on Rural Development (5th July 2010) in Brussels, concerning among others, recasting of Commission Regulation No 1975/2006 (implementation of control procedures as well as cross-compliance in respect of RD support measures).
Eastern Partnership
The initiative of Eastern Partnership (EaP) was presented at the EU's General Affairs and External Relations Council in Brussels on 26 May 2008, by the foreign minister of Poland with assistance from Sweden. It is meant to complement the Northern Dimension and the Union for the Mediterranean by providing an institutionalized forum for discussing visa agreements, free trade deals and strategic partnerships with the EU's eastern neighbours. Its geographical scope consists of Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
ARMA actively participated in the preparations under the thematic platform 2 (economic integration and convergence with EU policies). The activities within this platform include meetings of experts, top officials, ministers of the key sectors of the EU member states and partner states and the implementation of multilateral projects, joint training courses, seminars and activities aimed at sharing knowledge and experience in specific areas.
Partnerships with the Western Balkans
The Agency, along with other government bodies supervised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry itself, participates in the cooperation with the Western Balkans, which is a part of the stabilisation and association process with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro, and Serbia, including Kosovo.This cooperation consists in the transfer of experience and savoir-faire relative to the building of the paying agency, the establishment of IT systems such as IACS, AIRS, LPIS etc., with a view to greater integration with the EU in the field of agriculture, as these countries are recognised as potential candidates for membership.
