Third UK-Poland Inter-Governmental Consultations took place at Lancaster House, London on Thursday 20 December 2018
We, the Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom and Poland, chaired the third round of our Inter-Governmental Consultations in London today.
The UK and Poland are key strategic allies and have a relationship that is broad, vibrant and diverse. This year, we have witnessed that relationship deliver on our shared priorities. We took note of our achievements across three broad areas: security; prosperity; and people and ideas. We have made good progress – implementing the Defence and Security Cooperation Treaty signed at our last consultations; agreeing jointly funded strategic communication projects in Eastern Partnership Countries worth £5m; and working together internationally including in NATO and the UN Security Council. We brought together over 150 UK and Polish companies for the first UK-Poland Business Trade and Investment Forum and supported closer collaboration between innovators and academics through the 2018 Year of Entrepreneurship Science and Innovation.
Together, we have today set the course for even closer and deeper collaboration in these areas in the coming year and beyond.
To protect our shared security we have agreed to:
- continue to work side by side in countering aggression and malign activity, while strengthening our strategic communications and our collaboration on sanctions policy and cyber security: our work to combat hostile state activity will include new annual cross-government consultations on Russia.
- strengthen collaboration in NATO, the bedrock of our security, with our respective forces continuing to operate side by side – in particular on the Eastern flank; underline our shared leadership on burden-sharing in NATO by continuing to meet NATO’s Defence Investment Pledge; and maintain the momentum of defence cooperation activities under the 2017 Defence and Security Cooperation Treaty;
- foster EU/NATO cooperation in accordance with the Joint Declarations made in 2016 and 2018;
- continue to build a more stable and secure European Neighbourhood, with the UK passing the baton to Poland to organise the next Western Balkans Summit in Poznań in July 2019, working together to address the region’s pressing priorities;
- enhance our operational cooperation to enable us to fight modern slavery and serious and organised crime more effectively through closer working between our respective police and prosecutors, and improving the effectiveness of interdiction at emerging UK and Polish ports.
To build our shared prosperity, we have agreed to establish:
- a UK/Poland Tech Partnership, including a pilot tech hub programme, supported by the Prosperity Fund, as a platform dedicated to forming innovation partnerships between start-ups in both countries, scouting for entrepreneurial talent, forging links with corporates and boosting trade, investment and productivity;
- a Clean Growth Partnership, supporting economic growth while reducing emissions, including a second UK/Poland Business Trade and Investment Forum focused on Clean Growth and implementing our joint UK-Poland Driving Change Together initiative from COP24 in Katowice.
Under the people and ideas pillar we have agreed to organise:
- an exhibition in the UK and Poland about our political, economic and cultural links, celebrating the centenary of re-establishing diplomatic relations;
- a second UK/Poland Science Forum in 2019, focused on women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Today we have met representatives of the Polish community in the UK and celebrated their immense contribution to the UK’s economic and social development, particularly in the public sector. These strong people-to-people links are the cornerstone of our bilateral partnership.
Today’s Intergovernmental Consultations have demonstrated the depth and breadth of that relationship. As we celebrate the centenary of Poland re-gaining independence, we believe that the close ties between our two governments will serve as a model for what is possible after the UK has left the European Union. Ours is a partnership that stands on the strongest possible foundations and on which we are determined to build further in the coming year.
