The Polish public and politicians strongly reject the European Union's draft, which would take away a significant part of the powers of the member states in forest management.
In the accession treaty, it was stipulated that a country's forest management powers belong exclusively to the country concerned - drew attention to the Polish ruling party representative Dariusz Bąk, who also holds a leading position in the relevant parliamentary committee. As is well known, the European Union is once again trying to gain powers that were previously in the hands of the member states. This time it's about forest management, writes V4NA.com .
The environmental protection committee of the European Parliament recently voted to amend the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Forests would be transferred from national competence to so-called shared competence.
Politicians of the Polish United Right - both in the government, in the Polish Sejm and in the European Parliament - as well as representatives of state forests sounded the alarm and drew attention to the associated dangers. Dariusz Bąk stated in an interview that they are firmly against what the European Union is trying to impose on people. As he put it :
"I don't know where this idea comes from and whose interest it is, but it is certainly not in Poland's interest. I am against what the Union wants to impose on us and that it is again trying to lay its hands on Polish national wealth".
Elżbieta Rafalska, a member of the European Parliament from the Polish ruling party, also spoke about the case. The politician said that forestry is an important part of the national economy and should remain the responsibility of the state, i.e. Poland, and not part of the European economy.
"I can say that we are dealing with another attack on the powers of the member states. This time we are dealing with something that is not accepted and will never be accepted in Poland, that is, an attempt to expropriate and question the right of Poles to the forest"
Rafalska stated. A public opinion survey indeed points out that Polish citizens also reject the EU draft. 77 percent of the respondents said that they do not support the idea. They believe that the Polish state should have control over the Polish forests. By the way, Elżbieta Rafalska also noted that
"The recent corruption scandal in Brussels shows that you can pay for different things, which calls into question the purity of the intentions of all NGOs".
These civil organizations are lobbying hard to get forest management out of the hands of the member states. The Polish government has also stated several times:
Shared powers require treaty amendments, and this requires the consent of all member states. The position of the Polish government is clear - as long as the government of Law and Justice exercises power, there will not be and will not be Polish consent in this regard.
Polish experts also say that the idea of a uniform EU-wide forest policy is fundamentally wrong . Europe has a wide range of forest types, forest management practices and associated biodiversity patterns that require context-specific forest management. Only forest management based on traditional forest culture makes it possible to preserve elements of native nature. After all, no one knows Polish forests better than Polish foresters, who practice sustainable forest management based on more than 100 years of experience passed down from generation to generation.
They also drew attention to the fact that Brusselsites are once again proposing solutions that forget to assess the effects of their introduction. They would be tragic for the Polish economy and lead to the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs, thereby impoverishing society.
Photo: European Parliament
