ZPP Newsletter
Warsaw, 19th November 2019
Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers inaugurates the activities of the Energy and Environment Forum
On 19th November 2019, during a dedicated press conference, the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers inaugurated the Energy and Environment Forum. The Forum is intended to serve as a platform for business representatives, experts and other stakeholders to work on developing and implementing solutions for the broadly understood energy and environmental policies of the state.
“It goes without saying that issues related to energy and the environment will be some of the most important priorities of the new European Commission,” stated Cezary Kaźmierczak, President of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers. “Also after the formation of the new Polish government, one can realise that these subject will be quite high on the agenda. Therefore, we have come to the conclusion that representatives of business should participate actively in the process of developing solutions both at the strategic level, in relation to Poland’s energy transformation, as well as at the level of implementation of individual solutions adopted by the European Union institutions.”
The Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers has been keeping a very close eye on environmental issues for many years. In 2016, the Circular Economy Forum began operations, a special platform that managed to develop initial assumptions for the implementation model regarding the principles of extended producer responsibility as part of transposing the waste directive package.
“Many economic entities are not aware of the large changes ahead of them resulting from the introduction into the Polish legal order of solutions provided for in the ‘waste package’ or the directive on limiting the impact of certain plastic products on the environment,” highlighted Marcin Nowacki, the Union’s VP. “And this is why we want the new Forum’s role to encompass both conducting substantive work on the implementation of regulations as well as increasing awareness of business circles regarding the challenges that await us.”
The Forum’s work is to be divided into several sections, covering climate, air, waste and the circular economy as well as water. These sections correspond with the objectives of the Forum, which include participation in the development of the Polish energy transformation plan, participation in consultations on the implementation of the waste directive package, or development of recommendations in the field of state policies to improve air quality.
“A considerable amount of work within the Forum will certainly be devoted to issues of legislative nature, because all strategic projects are ultimately implemented by means of the adoption of legal acts,” said Jakub Bińkowski, director of the Union’s Department of Law and Legislation. “However, we aspire to be active also at earlier stages, among others, during conceptual work.”
After the presentation of the general objectives of the Forum by the representatives of the Union, the invited experts: Krzysztof Bolesta, Paweł Waligórski and Karol Wójcik, took the floor. Each of them presented key problems and priorities in their area of expertise: air quality policies, medical waste and waste management issues, respectively.
