Nearly 200 employees of local self-governments, politicians, representatives of the world of science and the third sector from Poland and abroad took part in the second meeting of the Polish Standing Conference on the International Cooperation of Local Self-Governments (Stała Ogólnopolska Konferencja Współpracy Międzynarodowej Samorządów – SOKWMS) organised on 28 June 2013 in Poznań by the Local Self-Government of the Wielkopolska Region. The meeting focused on the "Experiences and perspectives regarding the role of Polish Local Self-Governments in the strengthening of the local and regional dimension of the Eastern Partnership". The meeting was opened by Marek Woźniak, the Marshal of the Wielkopolska Region, who was the initiator and the host of the conference.

The Marshal emphasised the symbolic nature of the meeting – it was held on the anniversary of the Poznań 1956 protests – the first of several massive protests of the Polish people against the communist government. The host of the conference also noted that Poznań and Wielkopolska have contributed considerably to the implementation of the Eastern Partnership initiative. For many years, the Self-Government of the Wielkopolska Region has actively collaborated with East European states. In September 2011, in Poznań, the Conference of the Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership – CORLEAP – was founded. Marshal Marek Woźniak thanked the Ministry of Administration and Digitalization and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their support for local self-governments. He also extended his thanks to Jerzy Pomianowski, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who was responsible for the implementation of the civic mechanism and the local self-government level of foreign policy on behalf of the ministry.

The second meeting of SOKWMS was the last event which Minister Pomianowski attended as a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs because now he will begin his service as the Executive Director of the European Endowment for Democracy. In his speech, the Minister highlighted the progress in collaboration between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and local self-governments. It was in order to extend this debate that Regional Centres for International Debate were founded in all capitals of region. Minister Pomianowski stressed the significance of coordination of the international activity of local self-governments for the efficient fulfilment of the strategic objectives of Polish foreign policy. He also declared participation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, both formal and substantive, in the foreign activity of local self-governments. Furthermore, Minister Pomianowski highlighted the merits of Marshal Marek Woźniak concerning the creation of mechanisms for the collaboration of the ministry and local self-governments. One of them is the Polish Standing Conference on the International Collaboration of Local Self-Governments.

Štefan Füle, the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, addressed the conference participants in a video message presenting the progress in the implementation of the Eastern Partnership initiative with particular emphasis on its local and regional dimension.

Another speaker was Magdalena Młochowska, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Administration and Digitalization, who thanked local self-governments for their efforts for international collaboration, which shapes the image of Poland abroad. She expressed her acknowledgment for the local and regional authorities who carry out international collaboration in spite of the fact that it is not one of their duties. The participation of local self-governments in the shaping of the image of Poland is important also because the local self-government reform may become Polish "export good" in Eastern Europe.

After the opening speeches, two panel discussions were held, proceeded by the presentation of a report entitled: "Cooperation of Polish local self-government entities with regional and local authorities as well as other units from Eastern Partnership states". The report was prepared by Jolanta Taczyńska, PhD from the University of Lódź, and commissioned by Marshal Marek Woźniak acting as the Head of the Polish Delegation to the EU Committee of the Regions.

The panel discussions were attended by the representatives of local self-governments, politicians and diplomats from Poland, the EU and the Eastern Partnership, including: Jan Tadeusz Tombiński, the EU Ambassador to Ukraine, Staffan Herrström, the Swedish Ambassador to the Republic of Poland, Professor Roman Kuźniar, Advisor to the President of the Republic of Poland, Filip Kaczmarek, Deputy to the European Parliament, Serhij Tatusiak and Andrij Fedoruk, the Chairpersons of the Oblast Councils of Vinnytsia and Donetsk. Panel discussions were moderated by journalists specialising in East European issues: Maria Przełomiec with TVP Info and Małgorzata Nocuń with "Nowa Europa Wschodnia".

The initiative of the Standing Conference will be continued. The self-governmental part of the European Affairs Unit to the Joint Commission of the Polish Government and Territorial Self-Government agreed that the third meeting will be held in the Lodz Region, and will focus on the collaboration with China.

The Polish Standing Conference on the International Cooperation of Local Self-Governments is implemented within the mechanism for the support of the local self-government and civic dimension of Polish foreign policy. The conference is held under the honorary auspices of Radosław Sikorski, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Administration and Digitalization and the Conference of the Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership. The project is co-financed with the funds of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.