Poland

Politics

/

The past year was full of events related to the ongoing crisis of the rule of law in Poland. The last few months have been dominated mainly with the issue of the “milestones” attached to the National Reconstruction Plan and the disagreement within the ruling coalition as to how to achieve them. Among other things, for this purpose the infamous Disciplinary Chamber was abolished and replaced with Chamber of Professional Responsibility.

Economy

/

“Road to Euro” is a Polish nationwide campaign kicked off in mid-2022 and run by the Economic Freedom Foundation. The campaign’s main purpose is therefore to start an intensive debate on Poland’s accession to the eurozone, inform about the benefits of adopting the common currency, as well as prepare recommendations for necessary reforms and initiate the process of joining the eurozone.

Politics

/

Last year in Poland was marked by heated discussions linked with the provision of European Union Recovery Funds, which have been promised to the Polish government on condition that it successfully restores the rule of law, infringed through multiple reforms of the ruling coalition. Introduced over the last seven years, they largely touched upon the judiciary system, increasing its dependence on the legislative branch.

Think Tank News

/

In the past years, illiberal political regimes emerged in Poland and Hungary. One of the victims to these regimes are media. Freedom and independence of media in those countries are now under pressure from various angles, such as legal regulations and outright political pressure. The joint research of Project: Polska (PL) and 21 Research Centre (HU) is focused on small, rural media outlets and rural society in general.

Society

/

In accordance with the ordinance of the Minister of the Interior form 2009 on uniforms, Polish police officers are required to wear an identification patch with the first letter of their first name and their surname or service number on their uniform when on duty. There are exceptions to this rule. One of them, which raises reasonable doubts, are officers operating within riot units.

Economy

/

Along with the increase of inflation in Poland and in the whole world, the discussion about its causes intensifies. There are many voices that the main reason is an external supply shock – the prices of energy and food. It is useful, in the analysis, to distinguish within CPI inflation, a core inflation and the rest of it. Core inflation is an inflation rate that is devoid of the most unstable components such as food and energy prices.