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Polish senators dismiss president's call for referendum on EU climate policy

21.05.2026 11:14
Poland's upper house of parliament, the Senate, has rejected a proposal by President Karol Nawrocki to hold a nationwide referendum on European Union climate policy.
The upper house of Polands parliament, the Senate, in session in Warsaw on Wednesday, May 20, 2026.
The upper house of Poland's parliament, the Senate, in session in Warsaw on Wednesday, May 20, 2026.Photo: PAP/Leszek Szymański

Senators voted 62-32, with one abstention, on Wednesday against approving the referendum.

Earlier this month, Nawrocki asked the upper house to authorize a September 27 referendum on the EU’s climate agenda.

Under the proposal, voters would have been asked whether they supported "a climate policy that has led to higher living costs for citizens, higher energy prices and higher costs of doing business and farming."

Under Poland’s constitution, the president may call a nationwide referendum only with Senate approval.

Speaking in the chamber on Wednesday, presidential chief of staff Paweł Szefernaker said the referendum proposal was aimed at giving citizens a direct voice on rising energy costs and the effects of the EU's Green Deal policies.

"Energy is the foundation of economic and social life," Szefernaker said. "If energy prices rise, the cost of everything rises."

He cited an analysis by Polish lender PKO Bank Polski estimating that implementing the EU's "Fit for 55" climate package could cost Poland more than EUR 527 billion by 2030.

Climate Minister Paulina Hennig-Kloska criticised the proposal during a lengthy Senate debate, calling it "a festival of hypocrisy" and "political populism."

She argued that the referendum question was misleading and said the vote would do nothing to strengthen Poland’s resilience to energy crises or rising oil and gas prices.

Lawmakers from Prime Minister Donald Tusk's governing coalition also criticised the initiative.

Senator Władysław Komarnicki of the centrist Civic Coalition (KO) called the proposed question "absurd" and accused the president of trying to deepen political divisions.

Opposition lawmakers from the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party defended the referendum proposal. Senator Aleksander Szwed said blocking the vote showed that the government trusted "officials in Brussels more than its own citizens."

Also on Wednesday, members of the Solidarity trade union staged an anti-government protest in Warsaw under the slogan "Together for Poland and Poles," demanding, among other things, a referendum on EU climate policy.

Members of the Solidarity trade union rally against the EU's climate policy in Warsaw on Wednesday. Members of the Solidarity trade union rally against the EU's climate policy in Warsaw on Wednesday. Photo: PAP/Szymon Pulcyn

The EU’s Fit for 55 package aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030 compared with 1990 levels.

(gs)

Source: IAR, PAP