Warsaw, 17^th July 2019

 

The Union of Entrepreneurs and Employer on the new authorities of the European Union: the biggest challenges from the point of view of the Polish economy are issues related to social affairs, the climate, and the future of the community

 

The Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers published a memorandum of its Representation in Brussels on the greatest threats and opportunities for the Polish economy resulting from the election of new authorities of institutions of the European Union. Therein the Union identifies key challenges and proposes specific recommendations for Poland.

A significant part of the law presently in force in our country are regulations developed and adopted at the level of the European Union. The impact of the Union on Polish entrepreneurs is twofold. Firstly, by implementing the regulations adopted in Brussels, we are changing the regulatory environment for companies operating in our market. Secondly, by adopting specific directives and regulations, the Union shapes the principles of functioning within the European Sigle Market, and this is a key issue for many Polish entrepreneurs.

“There can be no doubt that what is happening in the EU has a very large, and perhaps an increasing even, influence on Polish companies,” claims the President of the Union Cezary Kaźmierczak. “It was evident, for inexample, in the case of the famous GDPR and recent amendments to the regulations on posted workers. More and more key decisions are being made in Brussels, which is why we must carefully monitor the systems of interests that arise there.”

The full picture of the Union’s regulatory priorities for the nearest future will become known when the commissioners are elected and the European Commission’s agenda for the next term is announced. We can already at this moment assume basing on, for instance, the priorities of the Finnish presidency or the strategy adopted by the European Council, which areas may be the most important for the Union’s policy. From the point of view of the Polish economy, two of them are of highest importance: social issues and climate policy. Moreover, as a result of the increasingly bold concept of a multi-speed Europe, the third element key from the Polish perspective is the future of the Union iteslf.

“These three issues are areas where the interests and agendas of Western countries and Poland are most visible,” emphasises the Vice-President of the Union Marcin Nowacki. “Wealthier states are pushing for an ambitious climate policy, striving at the same time to standardise social protection standards in individual EU member states, or at least to eliminate the advantage of lower levying costs, which is a certain competitive advantage. At the same time, they consolidate within the eurozone which threatens to leave all other member states on the Union’s outskirts.”

From the Polish viewpoint, it is crucial that the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights does not entail the implementation of far-reaching solutions that affect the competitiveness of Polish companies, and climate policy objectives were defined realistically and taking into account the costs of energy transformation borne by individual countries. These in the case of Poland can be gargantuan and amount up to PLN 400 billion.

“Therefore, it is essential to monitor subsequent initiatives related to social protection, such as the introduction of European regulations on minimum wages or the revision of regulations on the coordination of social security systems,” says Jakub Bińkowski, the Union’s Secretary of the Law and Legislation Department. “Another highly important issue are the amendments proceeded as part of the mobility package. We must also strive for a good distribution of financial support for Poland from the Innovation Fund and the Modernisation Fund. Challenges ahead are plentiful.”

The Union’s experts emphasise that attention should also be paid to further development of European integration. The ‘two-speed Europe’ may mean less money for Poland from the EU budget and further access restrictions with regard to Western markets.

“So there is a multitude of challenges ahead, and therefore we should not focus on deliberating whether the Union’s elected authorities are good or not,” concludes Cezary Kaźmierczak. “Since one is able to identify both opportunities and threats, one needs to focus on making proper use all options in order to take advantage of the opportunities and to neutralise the threats.”

 

17.07.2019 Memorandum of the Representation of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers in Brussels: New authorities of the European Union – opportunities for the Polish economy and threats to it

6^th July 2019

 

Speech by Cezary Kaźmierczak, the President of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers, at a panel during the Program Congress of the United Right in Katowice, 5-7 July 2019

 

The Polish economy is at a crossroads. The hitherto forces behind our country’s development were, in simplified terms, (1) low costs, mainly low labour costs and (2) operational intelligence and motivation of Polish entrepreneurs. Low labour costs are already a thing of the past – Poles earn more than the Greeks and Portuguese, we are soon to surpass other countries too. The remaining attributes, however, we can still consider our competitive advantages.

How are we then to compete? My entire professional career has taught me that in order to win, one has to do something better, different or cheaper. The same goes for international competition. “Cheaper” belongs to the past. Can we do it “better”? I doubt it, as the 50-year-long break in the continuity of Poland’s development does not allow it. When the West was accumulating capital, perfecting technologies and management systems, and acquiring know-how – we were perfecting the art of hunting for toilet paper. We are not capable of competing with the West in terms of capital or technologies, because we simply do not have them. We must choose other areas in which we can realistically gain an advantage.

In my view, these ought to be the tools we can use to compete successfully:

Legal and institutional competitiveness – Creation of the best possible institutions for the business ecosystem in the world, including those of the judiciary, and the best and simplest economic and tax law in the world. Creation of legal acts addressing new areas (e.g. autonomous cars) as the first country in the world. If we are one of the best places in the world to run a business, entrepreneurs and innovators from around the world will flock to us. This will also release the full potential of operational intelligence of Polish entrepreneurs. It is within our reach, but first we need political will.

Workforce – In the 19^th century, workers were relocating from all over to where factories were located. In the 21^st century, factories move to places where there is available workforce. Poland should adopt a very aggressive policy in terms of demographics, so that Polish women would like to give birth to a second and third child. We should strive for a 2+3 family model in Poland. What has been done so far – despite it being praiseworthy – is not sufficiently tough. It has to be much bolder. If you ask me, I’m willing to support switching the lights off at 6 pm on a Saturday. However, this activity will only bear fruit in a quarter of a century. What has to be done now is taking real steps to attract Poles from Western Europe, North America and even Brazil. If we successfully implement the first point I made and become a global business paradise, maybe even up to a million of them return to their native land. Another tool we can make use of is a smart sovereign immigration policy and the welcoming and subsequent assimilation of economic migrants from proven directions, i.e. Vietnam, Belarus or Ukraine, in precise quantities required by our economy. The goal of our demographic policy ought to be 50 million Polish citizens by the year 2050.

Government – We need a more proactive and deliberate policies and activity by the government. Above all, at the forum of the European Union. We must firmly and assertively proceed with the complete implementation of the Services Directive. Polish companies are discriminated against, mainly in France, using a number of various methods, both legal and illegal. A company’s closure based on an anonymous denunciation for the period of six months is nothing out of the ordinary. Poland’s efforts of more than a decade on the EU forum have not brought any measurable results. One must apply adequate retaliatory measures to countries that are running a policy that is harming us, and communicate to them clearly that their companies will only be able to operate in Poland without any obstacles provided ours can do the same abroad. I will stop right here, but we should stop playing around and letting others treat us this way. If we do not react, it will only get worse. Our government must act decisively.

Public aid for business – We haven’t got a lot of money. Therefore, the money we do have should be spent sensibly. In the meantime, we spend them all over the map. It’s hard to detect any strategy or thought in it. And a significant part of these funds goes to… multinational corporations!!! We’re acting as if we wanted everything at once. When Israel was being created, its founders decided to focus on four areas: hydrology, optics, the arms industry and agriculture, and on these sectors they concentrated all their money and efforts. Today, they sells 1 kg of tomato seeds that can grow in the desert for USD 100,000 and all Arab armies must use their optics. We must give up on our megalomania and delusions of grandeur, we have to choose several areas and invest there what we have. These should be new fields of science or industry – I doubt we have any chances competing e.g. with Germany in Diesel engines’ manufacturing. What these areas should be is a topic for a complete different discussion, but there should definitely be no more than 5 of them.

Of course, I can hear this laughter, this cackle, people saying “it’s impossible, it won’t work, it will fail” etc. I’m used to it – all through the 1980s, I would hear that communism could not be overthrown, and the sheer idea of the Soviet troops leaving Poland would make some people roll on the floor laughing uncontrollably.

Every nation has what it deserves. So do we. We have to break away from this tradition of mediocrity. Thus far, we are mediocre at everything. And everything in our hands.

 

***

Speech at a panel during the Program Congress of the United Right in Katowice, 6^th July 2019.

 

Fot. geralt/pixabay.com

Warsaw, 4^th July 2019

The Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers signed an agreement on cooperation
with the Forum of Polish Entrepreneurship “Korona” in Vilnius

 

We are pleased to announce that on 18^th June 2019, the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers signed an agreement on cooperation with the Forum of Polish Entrepreneurship “Korona”. The Forum’s registered seat in located in Vilnius.

Both parties to the agreement, within their respective competences and in accordance with their roles in the economic lives of Poland and Lithuania, will pursue efforts to develop cooperation in the scope of a more effective support of entrepreneurs, organizations, and companies in their countries in order to intensify and accelerate the advancement of all forms of economic activity on an international level.

We are looking forward to a fruitful cooperation.

More information about the Forum of Polish Entrepreneurship “Korona”.4