UK-Poland intergovernmental consultations: Joint Communiqué
Published 2 December 2016
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The UK and Poland have long been, and remain, the strongest of allies. We fought together in the defence of freedom and democracy in Europe through the 20th century, maintaining the close links between our peoples through the Cold War and since.
With almost 1 million Poles now living and working in the UK, we enjoy unparalleled people-to-people contact at all levels. It was an honour and a pleasure to meet some of them at today’s reception at No 10 Downing Street. Our ministers already meet regularly and work hand in glove across a broad spectrum of policy areas. Today, as a demonstration of our shared commitment to take this cooperation even further, we, the Prime Ministers of the UK and Poland, chaired the inaugural British-Polish intergovernmental consultations in London: the first time our 2 governments have held such a structured, comprehensive dialogue at Cabinet level.
In the first of what will be an annual meeting of our governments, alternating between Poland and the UK, we have agreed a comprehensive programme of collaboration in defence, foreign policy, security, the economy and business, science and innovation. Examples of this collaboration include:
- the bilateral deployment of around 150 UK armed service personnel to Poland within enhanced Forward Presence
- agreement to sign a defence cooperation treaty
- strengthening of UK/Polish industry cooperation
- coordinating opportunities to support the growth of UK and Polish small businesses
- a showcase of UK-Polish research collaboration and increased academic exchange
- ongoing cooperation to tackle global challenges including energy security, counter terrorism and cyber crime
Alongside the cooperation between our 2 governments we have also agreed to broaden and deepen our country-to-country dialogue through establishing an annual British-Polish Civil Society Forum in 2017. This will bring together a wide range of non-governmental actors, including UK and Polish businesses, academia, and think-tanks, as well as the vibrant Polish community in the UK.
When we met in Warsaw last July, we agreed that we wanted to transform our strong partnership into a great, strategic relationship. Today’s intergovernmental consultations give effect to this commitment and we look forward to meeting in Poland for the second round of intergovernmental consultations in 2017.