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    CIT is a de facto voluntary tax, it is necessary to make comprehensive changes

    Posted on by Weronika Marzec

    Warsaw, 30 June 2022 

     

    CIT is a de facto voluntary tax, it is necessary to make comprehensive changes

     

    The Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers (ZPP) has for many months been investigating the way in which large foreign corporations make CIT payments in Poland. In our previous publications, we have pointed out that the corporate income tax structure allows for far-reaching tax optimisation and favours the activities of the largest entities that are able to carry out such optimisation effectively. As a consequence, CIT has become an almost voluntary levy and many entities pay only symbolic amounts to the state budget, often much less than 1% of the revenue generated in Poland.

    This time, ZPP selected 18 of the largest and most recognisable companies with German roots and operating in our country. Using publicly available data on the website of the Ministry of Finance, we checked what revenues these companies generated, what costs they reported and how much CIT they paid in the period from 2012 to 2020, i.e. the entire period for which the data was disclosed on the MF website. In addition to data on CIT payments, the ZPP also tracked data available on the website of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection on the amount of state aid granted also in the period from 2012 to 2020.

    Analysis of the data shows that of the 18 companies, only four paid CIT in the period under review in excess of 1% of revenue. Interestingly, none of the surveyed automotive companies paid tax above this threshold. In addition, many of the companies received many times more state aid during the nine years of operation than they paid in income tax to the state budget.

    “For multinational corporations, Poland is a tax El Dorado” says Cezary Kaźmierczak, President of ZPP, “There are, of course, many that contribute very significantly to our budget. Still, many benefit from our infrastructure and access to the Polish market, paying less income tax than some households. That is why we have been proposing for years a simple income tax that would eliminate such situations.”

    For example, Volkswagen Motor Polska paid CIT in the amount of 0.003% (!) of the revenue it generated, while at the same time it received the highest state aid among the surveyed entities. The actual (gross) aid to this company amounted to almost 200 times its CIT, of which the company paid around PLN 1.5 million (nominally, the aid was even higher – PLN 1.5 billion, and therefore 1,000 times the tax paid in the period under review).

    Other companies associated with the Volkswagen Group also paid only symbolic CIT – Volkswagen Group Polska 0.392 per cent, Volkswagen Poznań 0.648 per cent, while Porsche Inter Auto Polska paid a tax of just one-tenth of one per cent of their revenue.

    Some of the surveyed companies also received very significant state aid. In addition to the already mentioned Volkswagen Motor Polska, another Volkswagen company, Volkswagen Poznań, received more than PLN 187 million in real state aid (PLN 644 million in nominal terms). In addition, high gross state aid was received by ZF Automotive Systems Poland (PLN 92 million) and BSH Sprzęt Gospodarstwa Domowego (over PLN 81 million).

    The data we have analysed shows that also for German companies operating in Poland, CIT is paid in most cases at a symbolic amount. Poland certainly suffers from a lack of effective and transparent tax law, in every area. The current system leads to outright bizarre cases, and the lost budget revenue resulting from the CIT gap runs into billions of PLN every year.

     

    30. 06. 2022 ZPP Report: Taxes of German companies in Poland

    A ZPP commentary: The European taxonomy is staring into an abyss. It’s own power generation sources based on atom and gas are today as important for Europe as before the war, if not more important

    Posted on by Weronika Marzec

    Warsaw, 24 June 2022 

     

    A ZPP commentary: The European taxonomy is staring into an abyss. It’s own power generation sources based on atom and gas are today as important for Europe as before the war, if not more important

     

    In February this year, the European Commission announced that projects based on natural gas and nuclear energy could be considered compatible with the EU’s climate and environmental objectives once the relevant criteria are met. This compromise was intended to support the acceleration of Europe’s departure from electricity produced from coal. On 14 June, the European parliament’s combined committees – Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) and Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) – raised objections to the treatment of these two fuels as sustainable within the framework of taxonomy of green finances. In the first week of July, the EP will resolve this issue, thereby prejudging the direction of the development of energy mix in Europe.

    The objective of the EU taxonomy, and in fact the objective of the sustainability systematics, is primarily to support the cash flow toward sustainable activities. Without investors directing their capital toward greener technologies and business transformation, achieving climate neutrality by 2050 would become an unrealistic commitment. The EU sustainability systematics offers a uniform interpretation on the basis of which entrepreneurs can invest in projects and economic activities that generate positive impact on the climate and the environment. Taxonomy also imposes additional disclosure obligations on financial market participants in order to make it easier to assess projects against the criteria set.

    While climate objectives are considered common to the EU as a whole, the energy mix of individual countries varies, and its shape can be decided by the Member States individually. The huge differences in the start point in terms of energy sources between countries have led to a compromise whereby gas and atom were to be used as transitional and stabilizing fuels for electrical power systems. In the opinion of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers (ZPP), this provision was a widely-expected and fair approach, giving the opportunity for countries with a carbon mix to lay a reasonable path to becoming decarbonized.

    Moreover, as the European Commission has underlined in the justifications to the complementary delegated act on climate change systematics, including atom and gas in sources covered by EU support. Achieving climate neutrality by 2050 will require a large number of private investments. The EU sustainable systematics aims to target private investment toward the actions that are necessary to achieve climate neutrality. Taking into account scientific opinions and current technological developments, the Commission believes that private investment in natural gas and nuclear activities plays an important role. The delegated act supports the European economy in a fair energy transition. Strengthening private investment in transformation is key to meeting our energy targets. – claimed EC.

    Projects in the nuclear field, which have been mentioned by the EU taxonomy, are:

    • pre-commercial stages of advanced nuclear power generation technologies with minimum fuel cycle waste;
    • the construction and safe operation of new nuclear power plants for the generation of electricity and/or heat, including for the production of hydrogen, using the best available technologies;
    • production of nuclear electricity from an existing installation.

    The eligibility of the identified activities as sustainable was subject to obtain a building permit by 2045. Investments should also meet the requirements of nuclear and environmental safety and, since 2025, accident-proof fuel is to be used in nuclear installations. The investor must also demonstrate that the nuclear waste will be disposed of without damaging the environment.

    For gas projects, the document lists:

    • the production of electricity from fossil gas fuels;
    • high efficiency cogeneration of heat/cooling and fossil gas fuels;
    • production of heat/cooling from fossil gas fuels in an efficient heating and cooling system.

    In order to qualify as a climate change mitigation activity, the European Commission has indicated that the life cycle emission threshold should be below 100gCO2e/kWh and for installations for which construction permits were issued before 2030 – below 170gCO2e/kWh. Installations should also be designed and constructed in such a way as to use renewable and/or low-carbon gas fuels. The transition to full use of renewable and/or low-carbon gas fuels was expected to take place by 31 December 2035, so natural gas was to be considered as a bridge/transition fuel.

    It was assumed that gas projects would be funded by the EU by 2030 and nuclear projects by 2045, with EU-supported gas installations having been able to use over time “green” hydrogen, produced with the support of renewable energy sources, thus gas fuel was clearly supported in this case on a conditional basis. Among the EU countries that opposed to such taxonomy, there were countries such as Germany, Austria, Luxembourg and Denmark; in turn France, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Finland and Hungary have strongly supported this shape of the EU taxonomy. The dispute was also of a financial (apart from ideology) dimension, as it concerned about EUR 17.5 billion from EU funding programs that could have been acquired or lost by nuclear and gas projects.

    Since the new taxonomic wording was to enter into force from 1 January 2023, a large proportion of private investors, whose involvement is important for the EU legislator in this case, have already been able to include gas and atom projects in investment strategies. It should be suspected that part of the investment decisions and actions have already been taken due to the severe time pressure from climate objectives. Infrastructural investments in energy are not only capital intensive but also spread over the years. They require a number of administrative permits, but also often partnership or consortia agreements. This kind of preparation in many companies started already in February this year and gained momentum in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, for the obvious need to become independent of Russian hydrocarbons as soon as possible.

    It is therefore totally incomprehensible that the position of the ENVI and ITRE committees may block a significant number of private investment streams that have already been allocated. It is true that the direction indicated by the two parliamentary committees will be decided in the next weeks in the EU. The EU co-legislators, namely the European Parliament and the Council, had 4 months to examine the document and express their objection. In order for this objection to be binding, the Council would have to obtain a negation of the act by an enhanced qualified majority, which means that at least 72% of the Member States – at least 20 Member States – representing at least 65% of the EU population would have to object to the delegated act. In turn, the European Parliament may object, if a majority (i.e. 353) of Members vote against it in a plenary meeting. The vote on the leaving of gas and atom in the EU taxonomy is scheduled between 4 and 9 July.

    Russian policy has forced Europe to redefine both energy security and the current needs for green transformation. Following the rather demanding Fit for 55 package, the REPowerEU program is presented, which envisages an even more intensive investment in RES development, energy efficiency improvements and the reduction of consumption of fossil fuels or energy in general. In the case of gas, there is already a clear decline in the consumption of this fuel in industry. Although this is primarily due to the high prices of this fuel which have been in existence since 2021, the war in Ukraine and Russia’s reduction in gas supply to the European market have exacerbated this. The side effect is, however, that the prospect of carbon leakage has extended considerably and the current demand for this raw material is breaking records, as a result of the huge number of carbon blocks that work in recent months in Europe. This phenomenon is very apparent among others in Germany, which is the most blatantly defending climate objectives and which also have nuclear power, and yet still trigger more coal blocks in recent times.

    The EU taxonomy was to promote activities for which there are no yet alternative low-carbon solutions that are technologically and economically feasible, but support the transition to a climate-neutral economy or contribute to climate change mitigation. In this sense, these projects were to be considered compatible with EU objectives and indirectly supporting the implementation of low-carbon solutions.

    In the opinion of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers, the rejection by the European Parliament of the sustainability systematics adopted by the European Commission on 2 February will have a negative impact on many energy transformation processes. Many investments in infrastructure that was intended to bridge the path to climate neutrality will be hampered and, in the absence of sufficient capacity, the least efficient carbon blocks will be integrated into the system. While we see a clear need to review and maintain European coal assets as long as it is necessary to guarantee energy and heat to EU citizens, such a role for conventional energy should only be stabilizing and, where we have the possibility to replace the exploited and inefficient installations with new powers that are slightly more sustainable, it is the direction where community or state resources should be channeled.

    Private investors need a transparent policy in this respect. They cannot learn every few months about such important changes in EU priorities, such as the inclusion or exclusion of gas and atom from taxonomy. This leads to far-reaching confusion and increases the assessment of the risk of investments that may not be made as a result. As a result of this situation, already today, the demanding climate targets will become completely unrealistic and are only present on the paper of EU declarations; such a situation will in turn undermine the authority of the analyzes and findings at European level. This is a highly dangerous direction for the unity of Europe which, in the present geopolitical situation, needs mutual understanding, operational efficiency and good cooperation between administrations and the home business.

     

    See more: 24.06.2022 A ZPP commentary: The european taxonomy is starting into an abyss. It’s own power generation sources based on atom ans gas are today as important for Eyropean as before the war, if not more important

     

    “EUROPE-POLAND-UKRAINE. REBUILD TOGETHER”. New ZPP program in support of the reconstruction of Ukraine

    Posted on by Weronika Marzec

    Warsaw, 20 July 2022

     

    “EUROPE-POLAND-UKRAINE. REBUILD TOGETHER”
    New ZPP program in support of the reconstruction of Ukraine

     

    The Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers (ZPP) is launching the program “Europe – Poland – Ukraine. Rebuild together”, which aims to build and strengthen relations between European, Polish and Ukrainian business communities and to prepare a framework for cooperation in the future reconstruction of Ukraine’s state and economy. We invited leading business organizations in Ukraine to cooperate with the project: European Business Association (EBA), Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneur (SUP) and the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce.

    The program will consist of a number of simultaneous projects. A series of sectoral consultation meetings was launched last week to identify and link together representatives of the sectors crucial for the reconstruction of the Ukrainian economy. Three events will take place in Warsaw in June, and in July we organize a consultation round in Ukraine – in Lviv and Kiev.

    In parallel, actions will be directed both at supporting Ukrainian firms in relocation to Poland and strengthening cooperation between Polish and Ukrainian businesses, as well as at assisting workers – immigrants from Ukraine – to find their place on our labor market and increase their competences.

    The first phase of the program will be summarized at an international conference, which will take place in Warsaw early October. The event will be attended by representatives of the governments, ministries and parliaments of Poland and Ukraine, as well as experts and representatives of companies from industries directly interested in cooperation. The prospects for economic development in Ukraine and its impact on the global economy will be discussed. We will also discuss the needs and expectations of the Ukrainian side in particular sectors, as well as concrete opportunities for Polish business to participate in the reconstruction of Ukraine.

    Marcin Nowacki, Vice President of ZPP comments: The reconstruction of Ukraine is one of the key challenges, but also the opportunities that we must face as the European Union and directly Poland. It is very important to build partnership, knowledge and understanding of the Ukrainian market and the needs of Ukrainian companies today. We hope that this work, which we are now undertaking in Poland, and which our Ukrainian partners also undertake, will build cooperation and a group of companies that will actively participate in the reconstruction of Ukraine. In July, we will be present personally in Lviv and Kiev, because we want to give a clear signal that our Ukrainian partners can count on our assistance not only in the most difficult times, but also in the further structural reconstruction of their economy.

    Last week, Nazar Bobitski, a specialist with many years of diplomatic experience in Kiev and Brussels, was appointed as adviser to the management of the ZPP and as the representative of the Union in Ukraine. He leads the work of the ZPP office in Kiev, which will coordinate and support Polish and Ukrainian business contacts.

    About the details of the “Europe – Poland – Ukraine. Rebuild together” program and other pro-Ukrainian and pro-business activities we will keep you informed on an ongoing basis. Please contact us at: biuro@zpp.net.pl.

    Position of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers (ZPP) on the Data Act

    Posted on by Weronika Marzec

    Warsaw, 21 June 2022

    Position of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers (ZPP) on the Data Act

     

    The European Union has made its strategy – Shaping Europe’s digital future – one of its top priorities. One element of the initiative is the European Data Strategy. The strategy aims to create a single data market in the European Union, which will increase Europe’s global competitiveness in access to data use in the economy and ensure control over entities generating data. Moreover, it is based on putting people first in technology development, guaranteeing users’ rights in the digital world, and protecting and promoting European values.

    On February 23, 2022, the European Commission presented a draft regulation on harmonized rules on fair access to and use of data. The regulation, also known as the Data Act, is the second piece of EU law proposed under the European Data Protection Strategy alongside the proposed regulation – the Data Governance Act.

    The project aims to make Europe a global leader in tapping the constantly growing potential of the data economy. Data-based solutions can bring tangible benefits to businesses and consumers in the European Union. Increasing the efficiency of data use may lower the costs of creating new products and providing services and thus increase their availability. It is also possible to improve sustainability and energy efficiency and shift to fewer emissions and more efficient transport systems, which will help meet the pro-climate goals set in the European Green Deal.

    The Data Act regulates the legal status, technical conditions and economic issues, which are the basis for the use of data. It aims to unlock the untapped potential of industrial data, 80 per cent of which remains unused by the European Commission.[1] The Commission assumes that by 2028, the value of GDP generated by using data under the new regulations will increase by EUR 270 billion.[2]

    The Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers (ZPP) assesses positively the provisions encouraging producers to invest in generating higher quality data. We believe this is essential to increase business competition and consumer welfare in the European Union.

    However, we note that the project did not altogether avoid its shortcomings. The provision that grants governments and the EU public institutions the right to access specific enterprises in “exceptional need” deserves criticism. According to Chapter II of the draft regulation, the obligatory and free access of public entities to enterprises’ data should be conditional on the existence of a “public emergency”. Its definition can be found in article 2, paragraph (10) of the draft regulation.[3]

    ‘public emergency’ means an exceptional situation negatively affecting the population of the Union, a Member State or part of it, with a risk of serious and lasting repercussions on living conditions or economic stability, or the substantial degradation of economic assets in the Union or the relevant Member State(s);

    The above definition provides an extensive interpretation framework for qualifying a given situation as a state of “public emergency”. Consequently, there may be a high risk that a public authority’s position in requesting ‘exceptional need’ data will be misused. Such a solution will lead to lower legal certainty and may expose enterprises to damages caused by compulsory and free disclosure of collected data.

    The Data Act, in Article 20, introduces a redress mechanism in cases of exceptional data transfers by a private entity. However, this mechanism is based on a general formulation that will require a complex assessment each time the additional costs are incurred for the entrepreneur. Such a procedure will extend the process of examining the submitted applications and does not guarantee the coverage of the company’s losses caused by the activities of a public authority.

    Summing up, ZPP supports the increase in the use of data collected in the European Union and the levelling of conditions for their fair use. However, as proposed, the Data Act has some legal shortcomings that may lead to a weakening of the position of enterprises vis-à-vis public entities and introduce legal uncertainty in the area of law enforcement.

    We call on European legislators to keep a proportion of the proposed regulation by limiting the disclosure of data to public authorities only to what is strictly necessary and by preventing the creation of rules that could restrict the development of ambitious SMEs. During the inter-institutional negotiations, we consider it necessary to develop solutions that will not contradict the current and future legislative acts in the field of the digital economy.

    ***

    [1] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_1113

    [2] https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/dae/redirection/document/83541

    [3] https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/dae/redirection/document/83521

     

    See more: 21.06.2022 Position of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers (ZPP) on the Data Act

    Conclusions from the latest ZPP report monitoring the EU-ETS market – the participation of speculators in this market is underestimated

    Posted on by Weronika Marzec

    Warsaw, 6 June 2022 

     

    Conclusions from the latest ZPP report monitoring the EU-ETS market – the participation of speculators in this market is underestimated

    The European Union Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS) was launched in 2005 and was updated several times in subsequent years. The existence of this market was supposed to be an incentive for the Member States to choose more sustainable energy sources and decarbonise the European economy. As part of the Fit for 55 package, the European Commission has adopted a legislative proposal to revise the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) with the intention of adapting it to meet the objective of a 55 % reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions in the EU by 2030 (compared to 1990 levels).

    At the same time, the price dynamics for European Union Allowance (EUA) have increased significantly over the past few months. The price of emission allowances (EUA price) sold under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) has risen from under EUR 30 per metric tonne of coal in 2020 to over EUR 90 by the beginning of 2022.

    The Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers has, over the past few quarters, systematically prepared and circulated among the organisation members a report aimed at a cyclical analysis of the specifics of transactions on the EU-ETS market, including in terms of speculator participation.

    In March this year, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) – following numerous critical opinions regarding the speculative rising of EUA prices on the EU-ETS market – issued a report on the state of the carbon market in the European Union. According to the report: “The analysis has not identified any serious shortcomings in the functioning of the EU market for emission allowances, based on the available data. However, the market analysis conducted by ESMA has led to a number of recommendations to improve the transparency and monitoring of this market.“

    And while the conclusions of the ESMA report are not satisfactory for those in favour of excluding speculators from the EU-ETS market, the authors themselves acknowledge that recently there is a growing interest in this market on the part of entities such as investment funds. Among other things, it was their speculative activities that have led to an intense increase in the price of this instrument over the past several months, which in turn has translated into a dramatic rise in energy prices.

    The ZPP report entitled “EUA: PRICE BUBBLES AND THE COMPETITIVENESS OF POLAND AND THE EUROPEAN UNION” clearly shows that the EU-ETS market is subject to a very high risk of price bubbles. The microeconomic characteristics of the market for CO2 emission allowances have not changed during the past year. The same flaws and weaknesses that have been highlighted for a year are still present. However, it is worth noting the change in narrative that has taken place over the last few months. In the spring of 2021, the possibility of price bubbles forming on EUAs was mentioned by a few, and their voices were ignored by the energy mainstream. Today, the subject is regarded quite differently by the public opinion, with more and more experts noting that this phenomenon is now real.

    The European Parliament is holding a debate on the possible exclusion of financial entities from the EU-ETS, which is supported directly by ZPP through Vice-President Marcin Nowacki’s involvement in the work of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC).

    The report is the last in a series of quarterly monitorings of the situation on the market for CO2 emission allowances. This is the fourth version of the document, distributed exclusively to ZPP members. The current edition includes updated econometric modelling for Q1 2022. In the conclusions, we additionally focused on how the formation of price bubbles influences the competitiveness of Poland and the EU. We will continue monitoring the topic and following market behaviour and regulations in this area. We therefore encourage you to stay in touch with us. If you are interested in the report or the issues it addresses, please send a message to biuro@zpp.net.pl.

     

    Are we to expect a return to coal? What is the future of the Polish energy industry? – conclusions from the debate of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers

    Posted on by Weronika Marzec

    Warsaw, 8 June 2022 

     

    Are we to expect a return to coal? What is the future of the Polish energy industry? – conclusions from the debate of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers

    Are we to expect a return to coal? What is the future of the Polish energy industry? – this was the topic of the debate “Energy Transition – an Opportunity or a Threat to the Polish Economy” organised by the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers (ZPP). The participants included the Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of State Assets, Piotr Pyzik.

    Other discussion participants were a journalist of Energetyka24.com, Daniel Czyżewski, the Chief Energy Technology Specialist at ZPP, Włodzimierz Ehrenhalt, and the moderator – Dominika Taranko, a director of the ZPP Energy Forum. The starting point for their conversation was the next edition of the ZPP report prepared by Włodzimierz Ehrenhalt on the energy transition and the accompanying opportunities and threats.

    Dominika Taranko started the debate by noting that the energy industry has recently ceased to be an exclusively economic or political subject, and has also begun to concern individual consumers and businesses. “The events that will happen in Poland in the coming years will concern everybody, including Polish companies. Hence the idea to hold a discussion as part of the ZPP Energy Forum on the pragmatic, realistic measures we need to take in order to at least approach the climate targets for 2030 and 2050,” she said.

    “Today’s debate is also intended to be a contribution to the discussion on the next ZPP report, published since 2019. In the latest document, we have compiled our findings for the previous year. Despite the fact that Russia invaded Ukraine and our geopolitical situation noticeably changed, we have decided to present the report and discuss it in order to establish the setting for the conversation about energy that we, as ZPP, want to have,” added Dominika Taranko.

    Włodzimierz Ehrenhalt explained that the report shows what can happen if we do not base Polish production on green energy. “Green energy is the foundation of a pro-export economy. In the report, I point out that if we do not produce it, we will not be able to sell our goods to EU countries – from yoghurts, through locomotives, furniture, to automotive parts. That is why today the transition to green energy is more important than all the other commitments we have,” he said.

    As emphasised by the Chief Energy Technology Specialist, the next twenty years will determine the economic position of the European Union in the global economy. According to him, full implementation of the Fit for 55 package – which envisages reducing net CO2 emissions by at least 55% (compared to 1990) by 2030 – in Polish conditions is not possible. That is why we need a discussion at European level that takes account of the circumstances and past events in Poland – in other words, the Polish transition process should take account of the specific historical conditions related to the position of coal in our economy.

    In the opinion of Włodzimierz Ehrenhalt, decision-makers in the energy sector should have two objectives for the coming years: ensuring energy supply at a level which will enable the state to function on its own resources as it did so far and ensuring the cheapest possible energy supply from outside. “This is a political task because we have to think carefully about where this energy will be the cheapest and operate wisely to obtain it,” said Ehrenhalt.

    Piotr Pyzik from the Ministry of State Assets admitted that he – also a Silesian – recognises transition as a topic concerning not only energy but also civilisation. “Mining is more than just energy, it is also culture and customs. I would like this phenomenon to be noticed from Warsaw’s perspective,” he said.

    According to the Minister, while designing the transition we must not forget that its goal should be, among other things, to keep the competitiveness of the Polish, and consequently European, economy at the highest possible level. “This is currently the basis of our activities. We also can’t deny that changing the climate is just as important,” he said.

    As Piotr Pyzik pointed out, the solutions for the transition to green energy should, however, be as prudent, rational and sensible as possible. “It should not happen that more energy is used to manufacture a wind turbine than it will produce in its entire lifetime,” he added. “When talking about green energy one simply has to be realistic,” he emphasised and added that, as much as we want to, we will not be able to erase coal from the Polish energy landscape so soon. “Primarily because we don’t have anything to replace it with. At present, we simply need coal,” he continued.

    Daniel Czyżewski from Energetyka24.com agreed with this thesis. However, the journalist drew attention to the issue of whether the need to switch to green energy is understandable to the majority of the population. “The question that comes to my mind is whether everyone is also able to bear the possible costs associated with the transition,” he said.

    “I can certainly agree that the energy transition –together with the full package of legislation, including a European Green Deal – is a civilisational change, indeed already visibly established in culture. However, I wonder if everyone realises how big of a change this will be for all of us,” he said.

    Full recording of the debate will be available soon on ZPP social media – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Youtube.

    Meanwhile, the full report by Włodzimierz Ehrenhalt is available at: https://zpp.net.pl/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/08.06.2022-Raport-ZPP-Transformacja-Energetyczna-szansa-czy-zagrozenie-dla-polskiej-gospodarki.pdf

    ***

    The debate “”Energy Transition – an Opportunity or a Threat to the Polish Economy” was held as part of the ZPP Energy Forum – a platform within which the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers focuses all its activities in the field of energy. Details on its operation can be found on the website at: https://zpp.net.pl/forum-energetyczne-zpp/.

    If you have any questions or would like to cooperate, please contact the Director of the Forum, Dominika Taranko – d.taranko@zpp.net.pl.

    Nazar Bobitski appointed as ZPP Board Advisor and the Representative of the Union in Ukraine

    Posted on by Weronika Marzec

    Warsaw, 8 June 2022 

     

    Nazar Bobitski appointed as ZPP Board Advisor and the Representative of the Union in Ukraine

     

    The Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers (ZPP) confirms that Mr. Nazar Bobitski is a ZPP Board Advisor and the Representative of the Union in Ukraine.

    Nazar Bobitski will coordinate the project “Europe – Poland – Ukraine. Rebuild Together ”on the territory of Ukraine. The program is aimed at creating and strengthening relations between European, Polish and Ukrainian business circles and preparing a framework for cooperation in the future reconstruction of the Ukrainian state and economy.

    Position of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers (ZPP) on the reintroduction of stay-down obligation in the Digital Services Act

    Posted on by Weronika Marzec

    Warsaw, 7 June 2022

     

    Position of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers (ZPP) on the reintroduction of stay-down obligation in the Digital Services Act

     

    The Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers (ZPP) expresses its concern about the return of the so-called “stay down” provision to DSA compromise text. Stay down obligation requires companies to ensure that illegal content does not reappear on the platform after its removal. The proposal does not define exactly how intermediary service providers would have to fulfil the above obligation. There are concerns that in practice it may lead to general internet monitoring and set a standard, which is technically impossible to attain.

    The prohibition of general internet monitoring stems from the e-Commerce Directive, a 20 years-old predecessor of the Digital Services Act. The Directive urged intermediaries to step up their efforts to combat illegal or harmful content, and, at the same time, included the prohibition of general internet monitoring. Due to the risk of censorship and damaging influence on fundamental rights, this practice has been ruled out already in the early days of the internet. Later on, several court judgments confirmed that scanning content uploaded and circulated on the internet is illegal.

    The European Parliament has already rejected the stay down provision during the DSA negotiations. Therefore, it is all the more surprising that this obligation is suddenly reintroduced in the latest compromise text, appearing after the conclusion of a political agreement by European negotiators. A group of organizations including CCIA, Act the App, Dot Europe, Developers Alliance, Allied for Start Ups, Eco De and EUROISPA has criticized changing the compromise text on the eleventh hours. “We  urge the co-legislators to refrain from introducing a provision, that was already discussed at length and rejected in various staged of the co-legislative discussions and even during trlogue negotiations” – we read in the organizations’ statement.

    ZPP shared the aforementioned concerns. Ahead of the upcoming vote on the DSA scheduled for June 16, we call on the policymakers to stick to the results of previous rounds of negotiations. The introduction of the stay down obligation will not only be a form of overstepping negotiation mandate, but also will lead to clear negative effects for internet users. Finally, by demanding companies to ensure that deleted content does not reappear on the internet, the EU imposes on companies obligations that are impossible to fulfill.

     

    See more: 07.06.2022 Position of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers (ZPP) on the reintroduction of stay-down obligation in the Digital Services Act

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