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FOR Communication 12/2019: Who is going to pay for Kaczyński’s Five? | 2019-04-04
moreThe Law and Justice (PiS) party’s new election promises of, namely, the “Kaczyński Five”, will cost the Polish public finances PLN 40 billion per year . In addition, the Law and Justice (PiS) party passed a resolution on the increase in a number of expenditures for the following years, mainly on health care and the army. The implementation of the “Kaczyński Five”, similarly to the PiS election promises of 2015, will force the government to relatively reduce expenditures for other purposes, raise taxes, and increase the deficit.
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FOR Communication 11/2019: Entrepreneurs’ test - more power in the hands of bureaucrats | 2019-03-29
moreThe introduction of the entrepreneurs' test is not a reform, but an attempt to find additional tax revenues needed to finance Morawski's Five. Giving bureaucrats the right to decide who can use the 19% PIT and who is to pay the full 40% PIT and ZUS contributions will be another source of conflict between the administration and taxpayers.
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FOR Communication 10/2019: Polish rule of law before the European Court of Justice: reflections after the hearing on the Disciplinary Chamber and the new National Council of the Judiciary [NCJ] | 2019-03-26
moreIs the Disciplinary Chamber an independent court since it was fully formed by the new National Council of the Judiciary, mostly elected by politicians? Such a question from the Supreme Court came before the EU Court of Justice at its hearing in Luxembourg on Tuesday. The procedural nature of the case and the arguments raised during the hearing, as well as the expected decision of the Constitutional Tribunal seem to suggest that the final decision may (at least partially) contribute to limiting the influence of politicians on the Polish justice system.
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FOR Communication 8/2019: Morawiecki's Sweet but Untrue Figures | 2019-03-08
moreAlmost all of yesterday's interview with Mateusz Morawiecki for the Rzeczpospolita daily, entitled "We Want to give Poles Peace of Mind and a Prosperous Life" was based on statements that insult the intelligence of the average citizen and thoughts on economic policy, which are in vivid contrast to empirical research. This means that either Morawiecki doesn't know what he's talking about or he knows, but in spite of this he decides to speak untruths, which he encapsulates with magical concepts - spells.
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FOR Communication 7/2019: Capital Investment Fund - Another Instrument for the Nationalization of the Economy | 2019-03-06
moreOn Thursday, February 21, the Sejm adopted an amendment to the Act on the Principles of State Property Management. It provides for the establishment of a Capital Investment Fund - a special purpose fund through which the Prime Minister will be able to finance the purchase or acquisition by the state of shares in companies. This will be another instrument in the nationalization arsenal of the Law and Justice party.
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FOR Communication 6/2019: The Right to Observe the Sessions of the Sejm in View of the Latest Jurisprudence of Administrative Courts | 2019-03-04
moreThe possibility for citizens to enter the session of the Sejm and observe the session is an explicit result of the provisions of the Constitution; in May 2018, however, some people were refused access to the gallery, which allowed this decision to be verified by the administrative courts.
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FOR Communication 5/2019: Law and Justice: "Après nous, le déluge" [After us, the flood] | 2019-02-25
moreIn its economic policy the Law and Justice party announced a repetition of its actions from 2007. At that time, at the peak of the world economic boom, the Law and Justice party government passed laws that came into force during the slowdown in 2008 and 2009, increasing the public finance sector deficit by 2% of GDP and forcing the PO-PSL government to look for savings. The current announcements were also communicated at the peak of the world economic boom, but will only fully enter into force in the coming years, when economic growth will be slower according to the available forecasts and, as a consequence, the situation of public finances will be more difficult.
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FOR 4/2019 communication: Populism Index 2019 - Highest support for populist parties since 1980 | 2019-02-20
moreThe Timbro Swedish think-tank presented the subsequent edition of the Authoritarian Populism Index. The aim of the index is, among others, to determine to what extent populist parties can pose a real threat to liberal democracy in the European Union and five other countries on our continent.
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FOR communication 2/2019: The Monopolisation of the Energy Market is Progressing | 2019-01-24
moreOn 19 December of the previous year, the President of the Energy Regulatory Office opened an investigation into the dramatic increase in energy prices. The question remains to what extent this increase is due to the progressive monopolisation of the sector by state-owned companies.
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FOR Communication 1/2019: Amendment to the Law on the prohibition of trade on Sundays: superficial corrections to a bad law | 2019-01-01
moreIn November 2018, the Sejm received a deputies' bill amending the act on limiting trade on Sundays and public holidays and some other day. Within a few days, the first reading was carried out, the draft was discussed by the Sejm Social and Family Policy Commission which introduced minor amendments.