Poland

A slight decrease in inflation measured by the CPI (Consumer Price Index) at the end of 2022 should be treated with great caution because it is accompanied by an increase in core inflation, which is calculated by excluding food and energy prices from the market basket.

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.

Poland\'s national railway system has left much to be desired in terms of quality of service, starting from the frequent delays and cancellations. However, since January 11, 2023, there has been an additional factor refraining potential customers from relying on the most environmentally friendly mode of transportation.

\"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.

Poland has been a member of the European Union since 2004, but has not decided to join the monetary union yet. Have Poland benefited or lost from this decision? For the last two years, starting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Polish zloty, like other currencies of Central European countries, has been significantly depreciated.

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.

In this episode, we talk about the EU funds and the issues related to the rule of law in Poland, the prospects for implementing the necessary reforms that would bring the judicial independence back on track, and the impact of the current situation on the forthcoming parliamentary election in Poland.

In this episode of the Liberal Europe Podcast, Leszek Jażdżewski (Fundacja Liberté!) talks about Polish upcoming parliamentary elections, EU funds and the rule of law, and how to deal with populists.

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.

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.