Polish Senate rejects Nawrocki's EU climate referendum for the second time

Senate vote

The Polish Senate voted on 6 August 2026 to reject President Karol Nawrocki's request for a nationwide referendum on EU climate policy. Fifty-nine senators voted for rejection, 32 voted against rejection, and 1 abstained. One source, Radiozet, reported the figure as 57 senators for rejection. The vote followed recommendations from four Senate committees (EU Affairs, Infrastructure, Climate and Environment, Agriculture and Rural Development, and National Economy and Innovation) to withhold consent, issued at a joint session on 5 August.

The referendum question

Nawrocki submitted the second request to the Senate on 23 July 2026. The proposed ballot question read: "Are you in favour of Poland implementing the climate policy of the European Union?" The referendum was planned for 27 September 2026. Under the Polish Constitution, the president orders a nationwide referendum with the Senate's consent, given by an absolute majority in the presence of at least half the statutory number of senators. The ballot would have included explanations of the consequences of a "yes" or "no" answer, covering the planned extension of the ETS2 system to buildings and road transport, energy efficiency requirements for buildings, restrictions on sales of new combustion-engine cars, and costs to industry and agriculture. A "yes" would mean consent to continuing EU climate policy, while a "no" would oblige state organs to work toward changing or repealing the regulations generating additional costs, negotiating exceptions for Poland, or introducing protective mechanisms.

President's rationale

Nawrocki's office said the decision to resubmit the request followed analysis of the European Commission's ETS directive revision proposals of 17 July 2026. The justification stated that "instead of a real, deep reform matching the scale of the problems, the European Commission presented a set of technical corrections that do not change either the direction or the final pace of the most costly elements of climate policy." The document argued that EU climate policy leads to weakened economic competitiveness, higher energy prices, and relocation of production outside Europe, limiting the capacity of states to finance security, investment, and other public policies, including environmental measures. The first referendum request, submitted in May 2026, had a different question referencing the cost of living, energy prices, and the cost of running businesses and farms. The Senate rejected that attempt as well.

Debate in committee

At the joint committee session on 5 August, Senator Piotr Masłowski of the NOWA Polska-Centrum Senate club moved to withhold consent. He argued that Europe should invest in renewable energy sources to reduce energy prices. He recalled that when Solidarna Polska previously tried to submit a motion to withdraw Poland from the ETS, both Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Jarosław Kaczyński had said it could not be done. Masłowski also noted that the president's representatives themselves said the referendum was not about leaving the ETS but about strengthening Poland's voice in EU negotiations.

For God's sake, that is not what a constitutional referendum is for. Therefore I, without seeking any alibi, will with full certainty vote against this request.

Presidential cabinet responds

Paweł Szefernaker, chief of the presidential cabinet, told senators that all subjective phrasing had been removed from the previous request. He argued that the revised question was neutral and that giving Poles a vote was the proper course of action.

Now, when there is no longer any alibi, the only honest and democratic way is to give the vote to Poles.

The European Commission's proposed ETS revision, which triggered Nawrocki's resubmission, would require member states to dedicate at least half of ETS auction revenues to decarbonization investments. The Commission estimates that currently only 5 percent of those revenues go to that purpose.