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FOR Communication 8/2020: Coronavirus and What Next? FOR’S Economic Prescription | 2020-03-18
moreGovernment action should be primarily aimed at making it easier for companies to survive the epidemic and maintain employment. The scale of the intervention should depend on the duration of the epidemic - the emphasis should first be on deferring taxes and contributions, then on guarantees and loans, and only at the end on writing off part of the liabilities.
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FOR Communication 7/2020: Election of the First President of the Supreme Court - a new problem for Polish democracy? | 2020-03-17
moreThe General Assembly of Supreme Court Judges will be held on 31 March 2020. The judges will then probably select five candidates for the new First President of the Supreme Court. From this group, the President of the Republic of Poland will eventually appoint the new First President of the Supreme Court. Initially, the General Assembly was to be held on 17 March and was postponed due to the epidemiological outbreak.
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FOR Communication 6/2020: Public Finances Not Prepared for Coronavirus | 2020-03-12
moreThe Law and Justice government wasted the 5 years of prosperity, as a result of which the Polish public finances and the health care system are not prepared for the coronavirus epidemic. A "Balanced budget" is an accounting trick, serving the government's propaganda - in fact, the planned deficit of the public finance sector, after deducting one-off revenues, was to reach 2.2% of GDP in 2020 (over PLN 50 billion), which is just under 2.6% of GDP recorded in 2015. At the same time 13 EU countries were planning to achieve surpluses. Additionally, no major reform to increase the efficiency of the health service has been carried out, focusing primarily on increasing social transfers.
Analysis 2/2020: Sugar Tax is a Tax on the Poor | 2020-03-11
The government draft bill on an additional tax on beverages sweetened with sugar and sweeteners, as well as those containing caffeine and taurine, was passed by the Sejm by the votes of the Law and Justice and the Leftist party. It now awaits further work in the Senate.
FOR Communication 5/2020: Proceedings before the Constitutional Court on the "Dispute of Competence": a Path to Further Destruction of the Rule of Law | 2020-03-05
On 15 January 2020, the First President of the Supreme Court, Professor Małgorzata Gersdorf, submitted a motion to remove the discrepancies in the interpretation of the provisions, occurring in the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court, in connection with the legal status of judges appointed by virtue of the pseudo-NCJ (National Council of the Judiciary) appointments. This motion was to be considered in the composition of the three joint Chambers of the Supreme Court: Civil, Criminal and Labor and Social Security Chambers.
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Aleksander Łaszek: Could Poland catch up with Germany's economy?, Deutsche Welle | 2020-02-19
moreThe Law and Justice party leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, has claimed that Poland's economy will catch up with Germany's by 2040. It is a bold claim by any standard, but could it become a possibility?
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FOR Communication 4/2020: Transparency of the Elections to the New NCJ: the Publication of the Lists Does Not End the Case | 2020-02-18
moreAfter 749 days from our inquiry, the Chancellery of the Sejm published scans of the lists of support for candidates for members of the new National Council of the Judiciary. The publication was the result of the administrative court's judgment, which annulled the decisions of the President of the Personal Data Protection Office suspending access to the lists by the Head of the Chancellery of the Sejm.
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FOR Communication 3/2020: Negative profitability: nothing to brag about | 2020-02-11
moreAt the beginning of the year, Poland issued euro-denominated bonds with negative yields two times. For government figures, these issues have become proof of the quality of the excellent economic policy of the Law and Justice party.
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FOR Communication 2/2020: Takeover of the German Condor Airline: Propaganda of Success | 2020-02-03
moreThe acquisition of the German Condor airline is another allegedly unprecedented success in the history of the Polish economy: LOT, formerly notoriously loss-making and destined to close down or, at best, sell to Germany’s Lufthansa, is now, thanks to the "good change", not only finally making a profit, but also developing so rapidly that it is beginning to expand on the German market. Again, one could hear a false narrative by Mateusz Morawiecki about the messianic role of Law and Justice party in the history of the Third Republic of Poland.
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FOR Communication 1/2020: Employment Flexibility Index 2020: One size does not fit all | 2020-01-30
moreThe Civil Development Forum, along with partners from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia and Slovakia, is participating in a 3-year research study initiated and coordinated by the Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI) on flexibility in employment contracts. As part of the project we publish the Employment Flexibility Index 2020.