The Marshal of the Sejm of Poland Marek Kuchciński and the Marshal of the Senate of Poland Stanisław Karczewski convened a working meeting of V4 speakers of Parliament in Przemyśl on 3-4 December 2016. In addition to the hosts and Speaker Kövér, the Speaker of the National Council of the Slovak Republic Andrej Danko, the President of the Czech Senate Milan Štěch and the Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic Jaroslava Pokorná Jermanová also attended the meeting.

The agenda of the event included discussions concerning visions for the future of the European Union, including strengthening the roles national parliaments play, as well as practical proposals aimed at bolstering the recognition of V4 cooperation.

Marek Kuchciński, Marshal of the Sejm of Poland, and Stanisław Karczewski, Marshal of the Senate of Poland, hosted the presidents and speakers of V4 parliaments for an official meeting in Warsaw on 6-7 March 2017. In addition to the two hosts and Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary László Kövér, Andrej Danko, Speaker of the National Council of the Slovak Republic; Jan Hamáček, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic; and Milan Štěch, President of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic also participated in the meeting.  Following the event, the Hungarian Speaker also held bilateral talks with his Polish colleagues.

Meeting of the European Affairs Committees of the Visegrád Countries

Ľuboš Blaha, Chair of the Committee on European Affairs of the National Council of the Slovak Republic, hosted the European affairs committees of the V4 for a meeting in Bratislava on 21-23 May 2017. Chair Richárd Hörcsik, Vice Chairs Zoltán Tessely and Tibor Bana, along with senior advisor László Juhász, represented the European Affairs Committee of the Parliament.

The agenda of the meeting included three topics: the dual quality of foodstuffs, the future of the European Union and a discussion of the agenda items of the upcoming, 57th (LVII) COSAC (Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs) meeting.

 Discussions of the dual quality of foodstuffs in EU member states revealed that the problem affects not just the countries of the V4, but the entire region.  Each member state is investigating the issue.  Meeting participants agreed that no distinctions in terms of markings and no differentiation is acceptable within the European Union. They emphasised that problems stemming from the dual quality of foodstuffs affect some 100 million EU citizens, and the problem must therefore be addressed on an EU level, possibly by developing new EU regulations.

In discussions of the future of the European Union, meeting participants took stock of the global and internal challenges that member states of the EU are forced to face today. They dealt, as a priority, with regional conflicts, the economic-financial and the resulting social crisis, the mounting pressure posed by migration, and the process of disintegration initiated by Brexit. Participants therefore agreed to call for the strengthening of V4 cooperation and a united stance as far as fundamental issues are concerned.

 

 For the agenda of the upcoming, 57th (LVII) COSAC meeting, they proposed discussions of north-south infrastructural links and the situation of cohesion policies post 2020.

 

Participants concluded the meeting by adopting a closing declaration.

Naptár

Stanislaw Karczewski, the Marshal of the Senate of Poland, led a delegation on an official visit to Budapest on 12-13 September 2016. During his visit, Marshal Karczewski held talks with Speaker of Parliament László Kövér and was received by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and President of the Republic János Áder. He met members of the Hungarian-Polish Friendship Group and met separately with Zsolt Németh, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Richárd Hörcsik, Chair of the European Affairs Committee.
Deputy Speaker of Parliament János Latorcai participated in the Europe of the Carpathians Conference hosted in Krynica in southern Poland on 6-8 September 2016. Speakers of parliament from the V4 countries spoke at the opening session of the conference under the title “The Visegrád Group: Current Challenges and New Forms of Cooperation”.
Milan Štěch, President of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, paid an official visit to Hungary on 20-21 April 2017 at the invitation of Speaker of Parliament László Kövér.

Marek Kuchciński, Marshal of the Polish Sejm, visited Hungary on 24-25 October 2016 and participated in events commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Hungarian revolution and freedom fight of 1956.

The Speaker of Parliament László Kövér held an informal meeting with Andrej Danko, Speaker of the National Council of the Slovak Republic, on 12 April 2017 in Esztergom. During their meeting, the two speakers reviewed inter-parliamentary relations and current topics in V4 cooperation.