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The Permanent Representation of Poland to the EU is doubling its staff in connection with the Polish presidency – it is expected to have over 300 people. After Piotr Serafin, the post in Brussels will most likely be headed by the current secretary of state of Poland in the prime minister’s office Agnieszka Bartol-Saurel.
The Permanent Representation in Brussels employs 154 people. As revealed by PAP, during the Polish presidency in the EU Council in the first half of 2025, 148 people will be added, most of whom will start working in the building at Rue Stevin in Brussels as early as September. Among them are officials “lent” in connection with the presidency from EU institutions, but the vast majority are employees of ministries in Warsaw.
“The burden of conducting negotiations in the EU Council, which Poland will be responsible for from January 1, rests on the Permanent Representation in Brussels,” said the Polish deputy minister responsible for preparations for the presidency Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka. “Our specialists will take over the leadership of working groups, they will prepare formal meetings, namely councils in which ministers participate,” she emphasized.
Departures from ministries in Warsaw to Brussels began on September 1. According to Sobkowiak-Czarnecka, the largest group consists of officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but there are also employees of the ministries of agriculture or development and technology. “The recruitment of these people has been conducted over the past ten months. These are specialists employed in departments dealing with European policy, who deal with EU matters on a daily basis,” the deputy minister noted.
In the first half of 2025, when Poland will hold the presidency in the EU Council, about 2,000 meetings are planned, organized both in Poland and in Brussels as well as in Luxembourg, where meetings are traditionally organized in April and June. Leading the EU Council, Poland will work on 150 initiatives, including legislative proposals.
Currently, the duties of the Polish representative to the EU, i.e., the head of the Permanent Representation, are performed by Piotr Serafin. The diplomat will soon move to the nearby Berlaymont building, where the European Commission is located. Serafin, who according to Prime Minister Donald Tusk‘s announcement is to receive the portfolio of Commissioner for Budget Affairs, must first undergo hearings in the European Parliament. However, as heard in the corridors of the chamber, his candidacy is seen as strong, and the Pole will certainly not be among the controversial candidates for “grilling” by MEPs.
PAP confirmed from two sources that Serafin is to be replaced by Agnieszka Bartol-Saurel, the current secretary of state for EU affairs, who moved to the prime minister’s office from Brussels this year. Bartol-Saurel is one of the most experienced Polish officials, who worked in Brussels for a total of 20 years, and in 2022 became the Director-General for Communications at the EU Council.
According to an EU diplomat, although Bartol-Saurel’s nomination as head of the post in Brussels is not yet confirmed, “everyone treats it as a done deal.” The issue of Serafin’s successor is to be formally resolved in the coming weeks after Serafin undergoes hearings in the EP. (05.09.2024)