In June 2024, the European Commission assessed that it was justified to open the excessive deficit procedure, among others, for Poland. In the EC’s assessment, the published report justifies the initiation of the excessive deficit procedure for seven countries: Belgium, France, Italy, Hungary, Malta, Poland, and Slovakia.
As the Members of the European Parliament’s ninth term closed their books, we tracked the views of incumbent MEPs on authoritarian regimes. We used qualitative and quantitative methods to build an accurate picture of MEPs’ positions on authoritarian countries. We have analyzed 152 votes cast by MEPs between 2019 and December 2023 to determine the potential openness of these MEPs to authoritarian influence, particularly from Russia and China.
In recent days, the media in Poland have been dominated by information about the dispute over the election subsidy for Law and Justice (PiS), as well as the intense actions of the new government aimed at addressing the abuses of the United Right authorities. The awaited decisions by the National Electoral Commission and the arrest of former Deputy Minister of Justice Marcin Romanowski are the main topics captivating public opinion.
“In what myth does a man live nowadays? (…) What is your myth – the myth in which you do live?” – once asked Carl Jung. The answer that I/we live in a story probably would not satisfy the master, but… for now, I have no other. They lead us through life from event to event, interweaving between what is important to us, edifying or ruinous; between moments when we wonder who and what we are for; when we choose the direction we decide to go.
Since the systemic transformation in Poland in 1989, public media have varied in the intensity of presenting the ruling camp’s viewpoint while simultaneously allowing opposing narratives. However, since the Law and Justice Party (PiS) took power in 2015, the media have fully become a propaganda tool for the government, thus reverting to their worst traditions from the People’s Republic of Poland (PRL) era.
On June 4 and 18, 1989, partially free elections for the Sejm and fully free elections for the reconstituted Senate were held in Poland. As a result of these elections, a democratic political system was established, and decisive economic reforms were initiated between 1989 and 1990, which included stabilization and free-market changes. Poland was the first socialist country to begin departing from the system imposed by force, which was flawed.
It is true that the role of career public officials in resisting authoritarian state capture is not properly appreciated. As Kisilowski points out, for the far-right, the “deep state” of liberal professional bureaucracy is frequently viewed as a prime opponent of the authoritarian agenda.
Michael F. Cannon, director of health policy research at the Cato Institute, will visit Poland on 5 and 6 June. His scholarly activities include public health issues, regulation of physicians, medical facilities, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, employer-sponsored and other private health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, Veterans Health Administration, medical malpractice litigation, administrative law, international health systems, and much more.
The twentieth anniversary of the entry of Poland and nine other countries into the European Union is a good time to remind ourselves of the benefits associated with this. In the Economic Freedom Foundation’s report, we focus on what is most important for the Polish and EU economies – the Single Market. More than thirty years since its creation, it can be considered a great achievement and the foundation of European economic development.
How is Italy positioning itself in the struggle for leadership in Europe? Will the surge of far-right movements determine the EU agenda? And will the European Union finally become a global player in its own right?
