EESC CORNER: How the Polish presidency affects Czech Business?

The current Polish presidency of the Council of the EU could serve as an inspiration for us not only in terms of pragmatic business impact, but as a positive example for the whole society. The first point is based on clearly defined and ambitious priorities whose core point is security in the very comprehensive sense. This, unfortunately, reflects the today´s reality of Europe as well as the world.

The security concept contains all important elements connected with democracy and freedom, competitiveness, resilience, the ability to safeguard our territory. It is also closely connected with responsibility as well as a good self-confidence.

Poland, as a big European country with a very clear and offensive attitude to the key EU priorities and a strong voice in implementing them, is undoubtedly the country it is worth to listen and follow to. Additionally, we also talk about a country with probably the best relations with the USA among all the EU Members. This could also be an advantage in the process of elimination a possible trade, investment and tariff struggles between the EU and the US.

During the Polish presidency, the real start of the debates and negotiations on the future Multi-annual Financial Framework is going to become reality. Poland is a strong advocate of the EU Cohesion Policy as well as the Common Agricultural Policy (as the Czech Republic and many other countries mostly from the Central, Eastern and Southern part of the European continent are). As such, Poland, having a back-up of the Polish Commissioner for Budget Piotr Serafin, works for us. But Poland on the other hand is very much open to a modernised Cohesion Policy, relying on the financial instruments, well targeted thematic typology and a strong role of regional partnership. An appropriately big and adequately concentrated cohesion policy could be an important supportive tool for our business again.

Poland would like to play an important role also on the field of the Internal Market topics, including the strategic open autonomy and elimination of the unnecessary barriers inside the Internal Market and its openness for all types of businesses and entrepreneurship in all relevant sectors and industries. Poland is able to propose an acceptable set of feasible compromises regarding the currently discussed issues around a Green Deal redefinition as well as the challenges linked with competitiveness according to the Draghi Report. And many parts of this compromise are based on the practical Polish experience during the last 35 years. The case study of the Polish post-revolutionary development is an impressive story how to make from a very obsolete country from the economic as well as living standards point of view and with not a very positive reputation in Europe a state and society with a long-term strong economic growth, with unbelievable structural changes in economy and society and a huge respect and appreciation in the international context. There are just a few examples of something called an economic miracle; Poland is one of them. And the presidency is a good opportunity how to share this experience with the others.

Among the states keeping currently and in a foreseeable future the EU presidency, Poland is by far the most important country that could advocate also the national interest of the Czech Republic in the EU not only from the business perspectives, but also in setting the values that could the EU have for the next period of its development. And that´s why it is so important not only to carefully observe what is the Polish presidency doing, but also to support its strategic priorities as well as the financial framework to cover them.