“Man to man, simply and directly, I would like to know what the Polish government has managed to do in 18 months so that we would not be facing such major problems with public finances. If we were to set aside our love of history, it would help us speak at the Council of Ministers about the future, about the real state of Poland’s public finances,” said President Karol Nawrocki during the Council of Ministers.
During his speech at the Council of Ministers, the President emphasized the issue of public finances, which will be the first topic of the meeting between the head of state and the government. – I am glad that Finance Minister Andrzej Domański is here. I think one day we will be on the same page in textbooks about election campaigns. Minister Domański initiated a process of civic engagement by so many Poles, which allowed me to run my presidential campaign – one that I could not run due to financial resources that, contrary to the law, had not been allocated to my campaign. This made millions of Polish men and women finance my campaign, for which I now have the chance to thank them – said the President of Poland.
– I must admit that I am very concerned about what I see in this year’s budget data. This is my question to the Prime Minister and the Minister – are these numbers we are dealing with ones that can be considered objective? When you read that we have a 150 billion PLN deficit, for me as President of Poland that is a clear alarm signal that something is wrong. The most alarming problems are with tax revenues and the multibillion gaps in VAT, CIT and excise tax revenues. For me, the Council of Ministers is the moment when we must agree to treat the functioning statistics as objective – added Karol Nawrocki.
He asked the government for clarification. – Man to man, simply and directly, I would like to know what the Polish government has managed to do in 18 months so that we would not be facing such major problems with public finances. If we were to set aside our love of history, it would help us speak at the Council of Ministers about the future, about the real state of Poland’s public finances – emphasized President Nawrocki.
He also announced that he would not support proposals to raise taxes.
Maybe the government needs support?
– It is always the case that the victims of the state’s difficult financial situation are development investments. I fear that this will be the path the government takes. In 18 months, the Central Communication Port (CPK) project has seen another 18-month delay, despite the project already being significantly reduced in scope. Even longer delays affect the construction of the nuclear power plant. If that is not the case – I naturally expect this issue to be raised during this meeting – said the President.
– I believe Poland cannot afford more wasted months. I say this as a management practitioner – perhaps the Prime Minister, perhaps the government, you need some kind of support for projects that are simply important for Poles. CPK, Polish nuclear power plants – these are not matters of one presidential term, or two terms, or of Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s term. These are national matters, which will last beyond our presence – both in political life, and perhaps even on this earth. We must think in national terms, not in terms of one president or another, or one government or another – he added.
The President expressed his expectation that the government and the parliamentary majority will take up his presidential proposal concerning CPK, which, as he stressed, has a “social mandate”.
– This is not a political project. It unites political circles, it is important for Polish men and women, and I care deeply about this matter – he assessed.
The end of Polish agriculture
The third topic of the Council of Ministers was the EU-Mercosur agreement.
– Here we cannot afford the classic split personality. I assume that in this room we all see the threats posed by this agreement – said President Nawrocki.
The President called this agreement “the end of the Polish poultry, beef, and grain production market.” He referred, among other things, to the resolution of the Sejm of July 25 this year, which – as Nawrocki stated – confirms that this agreement indeed poses a threat to Polish agriculture.
– I would like to encourage the Prime Minister and all Ministers, and declare that I am ready to build a blocking minority in the Council of the European Union in order to stop the European Union’s agreement with the Mercosur states – declared the President.