Recommendation for a COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION on the 2020 National Reform Programme of Poland and delivering a Council opinion on the 2020 Convergence Programme of Poland
Date: 2020-05-20
Institutions: European Commission, Secretariat-General
Subjects: Poland, digitisation, economic policy, economic recovery, epidemic, health policy, infectious disease, investment, stability pact, stability programme

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 20.5.2020  COM(2020) 521 final  Recommendation for a COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION on the 2020 National Reform Programme of Poland and delivering a Council opinion on the 2020 Convergence Programme of Poland  
 
Recommendation for a 

COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION 

on the 2020 National Reform Programme of Poland and delivering a Council opinion on 
the 2020 Convergence Programme of Poland 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Articles 121(2) and 148(4) thereof, 

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1466/97 of 7 July 1997 on the strengthening of 
the  surveillance  of  budgetary  positions  and  the  surveillance  and  coordination  of  economic 
policies1, and in particular Article 9(2) thereof, 

Having regard to the recommendation of the European Commission, 

Having regard to the resolutions of the European Parliament, 

Having regard to the conclusions of the European Council, 

Having regard to the opinion of the Employment Committee, 

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Financial Committee, 

Having regard to the opinion of the Social Protection Committee, 

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic Policy Committee, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

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On  17  December  2019,  the  Commission  adopted  the  Annual  Sustainable  Growth 
Strategy,  marking  the  start  of  the  2020  European  Semester  for  economic  policy 
coordination. It took due account of the European Pillar of Social Rights, proclaimed 
by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on 17 November 2017. 
On  17  December  2019,  on  the  basis  of  Regulation  (EU)  No  1176/2011,  the 
Commission  also  adopted  the  Alert  Mechanism  Report,  in  which  it  did  not  identify 
Poland  as  one  of  the  Member  States  for  which  an  in-depth  review  would  be  carried 
out. 
The 2020 country report for Poland2 was published on 26 February 2020. It assessed 
Poland’s progress in addressing the country-specific recommendations adopted by the 
Council  on  9  July  20193,  the  follow-up  given  to  the  recommendations  adopted  in 
previous years and Poland's progress towards its national Europe 2020 targets.  

On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization officially declared the COVID-19 
outbreak  a  global  pandemic.  It  is  a  severe  public  health  emergency  for  citizens, 
societies  and  economies.  It  is  putting  national  health  systems  under  severe  strain, 

OJ L 209, 2.8.1997, p. 1. 
SWD(2020) 520  final. 
OJ C 301, 5.9.2019, p. 117. 

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disrupting  global  supply  chains,  causing  volatility  in  financial  markets,  triggering 
consumer  demand  shocks  and  having  negative  effects  across  various  sectors.  It  is 
threatening  people’s  jobs,  their  incomes  and  companies’  business.  It  has  delivered  a 
major  economic  shock  that  is  already  having  serious  repercussions  in  the  European 
Union. On 13 March 2020, the Commission adopted a Communication4 calling for a 
coordinated economic response to the crisis, involving all actors at national and Union 
level. 

Several  Member States have declared a state of  emergency or introduced emergency 
measures.  Any  emergency  measures  should  be  strictly  proportionate,  necessary, 
limited in time, and in line with European and international standards. They should be 
subject to democratic oversight and independent judicial review. 

On  20  March  2020,  the  Commission  adopted  a  Communication  on  the  activation  of 
the general escape clause of the Stability and Growth Pact5. The clause, as set out in 
Articles 5(1), 6(3), 9(1) and 10(3) of Regulation  (EC) 1466/97 and Articles 3(5) and 
5(2) of Regulation (EC) 1467/97, facilitates the coordination of budgetary policies in 
times  of  severe  economic  downturn.  In  its  Communication,  the  Commission  shared 
with the Council its view that, given the expected severe economic downturn resulting 
from  the COVID-19 outbreak, the  current  conditions  permit  activation of the clause. 
On  23  March  2020,  the  Ministers  of  Finance  of  the  Member  States  agreed  with  the 
assessment of the Commission. The activation of the general escape clause allows for 
a temporary departure from the adjustment path  towards the medium-term budgetary 
objective,  provided  that  this  does  not  endanger  fiscal  sustainability  in  the  medium 
term. For the corrective arm, the Council may also decide, on a recommendation from 
the Commission,  to  adopt  a revised  fiscal  trajectory. The  general  escape  clause does 
not suspend the procedures of the Stability and Growth Pact. It allows Member States 
to depart from the budgetary requirements that would normally apply while enabling 
the  Commission  and  the  Council  to  undertake  the  necessary  policy  coordination 
measures within the framework of the Pact. 

Continued  action  is  required  to  limit  and  control  the  spread  of  the  pandemic, 
strengthen  the  resilience  of  the  national  health  systems,  mitigate  the  socio-economic 
consequences through supportive measures for business and households and to ensure 
adequate  health  and  safety  conditions  at  the  workplace  with  a  view  to  resuming 
economic  activity.  The  Union  should  fully  use  the  various  tools  at  its  disposal  to 
support  Member  States’  efforts  in  those  areas.  In  parallel,  Member  States  and  the 
Union should work together to prepare the measures necessary to get back to a normal 
functioning of our societies and economies and to sustainable growth, integrating inter 
alia  the  green  transition  and  the  digital  transformation,  and  drawing  all  lessons  from 
the crisis. 

The  COVID-19  crisis  has  highlighted  the  flexibility  that  the  single  market  offers  to 
adapt  to  extraordinary  situations.  However,  in  order  to  ensure  a  swift  and  smooth 
transition to the recovery phase and the free movement of goods, services and workers, 
exceptional  measures that prevent  the single market  from  functioning  normally must 
be removed as soon as they are no longer indispensable. The current crisis has shown 
the need for crisis preparedness plans in the health sector, which include in particular 
improved  purchasing  strategies,  diversified  supply  chains  and  strategic  reserves  of 

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

(7) 

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COM(2020) 112 final. 
COM(2020) 123 final. 

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(8) 

(9) 

essential  supplies.  They  are  key  elements  for  developing  broader  crisis  preparedness 
plans. 
The  Union  legislator  has  already  amended  the  relevant  legislative  frameworks6  to 
allow  Member  States  to  mobilise  all  unused  resources  from  the  European  Structural 
and  Investment  Funds  so  they  can  address  the  exceptional  effects  of  the  COVID-19 
pandemic. Those amendments will provide additional flexibility, as well as simplified 
and streamlined procedures. To alleviate cash flow pressures, Member States can also 
benefit  from  a  100%  co-financing  rate  from  the  Union  budget  in  the  2020-2021 
accounting  year. Poland  is  encouraged to  make full use of those possibilities  to  help 
the individuals and sectors most affected by the challenges. 

The  socio-economic  consequences  of  the  pandemic  are  likely  to  be  unevenly 
distributed across regions due to different specialisation patterns. This entails a risk of 
widening territorial disparities within Poland. Combined with the risk of a temporary 
unravelling of the convergence process between Member States, the current situation 
calls for targeted policy responses. 

(10)  On 29 April 2020, Poland submitted its 2020 National Reform Programme, and on 30 
April  2020,  its  2020  Convergence  Programme.  In  order  to  take  account  of  their 
interlinkages, the two programmes have been assessed at the same time. 

(11)  Poland is currently in the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact.  

(12)  On 13 July 2018, the Council recommended Poland to ensure that the nominal growth 
rate  of  net  primary  government  expenditure7  does  not  exceed  4,2%  in  2019, 
corresponding to an annual structural adjustment of 0,6% of GDP. The Commission’s 
overall assessment confirms a significant deviation from the recommended adjustment 
path towards the medium-term budgetary objective in 2019 as well as over 2018 and 
2019 taken together. However, in light of the activation of the general escape clause, 
further steps under the significant deviation procedure for Poland are not warranted.   

(13) 

(14) 

In  its  2020  Convergence  Programme,  the  government  plans  the  headline  balance  to 
deteriorate  from  a  deficit  of  0,7  %  of  GDP  in  2019  to  a  deficit  of  8,4%  of  GDP  in 
2020.  After  decreasing  to  46,0%  of  GDP  in  2019,  the  general  government  debt-to-
GDP  ratio  is  expected  to  increase  to  55,2%  in  2020.  The  macroeconomic  and  fiscal 
outlook is affected by high uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and as part of a coordinated Union approach, 
Poland has adopted budgetary measures to increase the capacity of its health system, 
contain  the  pandemic,  and  provide  relief  to  those  individuals  and  sectors  that  have 
been  particularly  affected.  According  to  the  2020  Convergence  Programme,  those 

6 
Regulation (EU) 2020/460 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 March 2020 amending 
Regulations  (EU)  No  1301/2013,  (EU)  No  1303/2013  and  (EU)  No  508/2014  as  regards  specific  measures  to 
mobilise  investments  in  the  healthcare  systems  of  Member  States  and  in  other  sectors  of  their  economies  in 
response to the COVID-19 outbreak (Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative) (OJ L 99, 31.3.2020, p. 5) and 
Regulation  (EU)  2020/558  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  23  April  2020  amending 
Regulations  (EU)  No  1301/2013  and  (EU)  No  1303/2013 as  regards  specific  measures  to  provide  exceptional 
flexibility for the use of the European Structural and Investments Funds in response to the COVID-19 outbreak 
(OJ L 130, 24.4.2020, p. 1). 
7 
Net  primary  government  expenditure  comprises  total  government  expenditure  excluding  interest 
expenditure,  expenditure  on  Union  programmes  fully  matched  by  Union  funds  revenue  and  non-discretionary 
changes  in  unemployment  benefit  expenditure.  Nationally  financed  gross  fixed  capital  formation  is  smoothed 
over a four-year period. Discretionary revenue measures or revenue increases mandated by law are factored in. 
One-off measures on both the revenue and expenditure sides are netted out. 

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budgetary  measures  amount  to  3,2%  of  GDP  and  include  allowances  for  self-
employed and employed on non-standard labour contracts, exempting companies from 
social  contributions  (they  are  to  be  paid  by  the  State),  and  subsidies  to  wages  for 
certain companies. In addition, Poland has announced measures that, while not having 
a  direct  budgetary  impact,  will  contribute  to  support  liquidity  to  businesses,  such  as 
loan guarantees for enterprises. The fiscal impact of the budgetary measures provided 
in  the  Convergence  Programme  differs  mainly  due  the  treatment  of  loans  to 
companies.  In  line  with  the  authorities’  announcements,  the  Commission  forecast  is 
based on the assumption that loans equivalent to around 2¾ percentage points of GDP 
will be converted into subsidies and thus recorded as expenditure in 2020.  Overall, the 
measures  taken  by  Poland  are  in  line  with  the  guidelines  set  out  in  the  Commission 
Communication on a coordinated economic response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The 
full  implementation  of  those  measures,  followed  by  a  refocusing  of  fiscal  policies 
towards  achieving  prudent  medium-term  fiscal  positions  when  economic  conditions 
allow, will contribute to preserving fiscal sustainability in the medium term. 

(15)  Based  on  the  Commission  2020  spring  forecast  under  unchanged  policies,  Poland’s 
general government balance is forecast at -9,5% of GDP in 2020 and -3,8% in 2021. 
The general government debt ratio is projected to remain below 60% of GDP in 2020 
and 2021. 

(16)  On 20 May 2020, the Commission issued a report prepared in accordance with Article 
126(3)  of  the  Treaty  due  to  Poland’s  planned  breach  of  the  3%  of  GDP  deficit 
threshold in 2020. Overall, the analysis suggests that the deficit criterion as defined in 
the Treaty and in Regulation (EC) No 1467/1997 is not fulfilled. 

(17)  The COVID-19 outbreak has pushed Poland into a new social and economic situation. 
For  the  first  time  in  almost  three  decades,  a  recession  is  forecasted  for  2020. 
According  to  the  data  provided  by  the  government,  the  pandemic’s  impact  on  the 
health of the population was comparatively low, including due to an early adoption of 
unprecedented  measures  such  as  strict  quarantine  and  social  distancing.  So  far,  the 
most  negative  consequences  have  been  observed  in  the  services  sector  (including 
transport,  retail  and  wholesale  trade  and  leisure),  as  well  as  in  manufacturing,  as  a 
result  of  interruptions  in  supply  chains.  To  offset  the  economic  impact  of  imposed 
restrictions,  the  government  has  launched  a  set  of  measures  worth  around  9%  of 
Poland’s  GDP (deficit increasing measures and liquidity measures  combined), which 
includes Union financing. This is also supported by the liquidity provision measures of 
National  Bank  of  Poland.  The  government’s  support  focuses  on  stabilising  the 
economy  in  the  short  term  through  supporting  employees’  incomes,  providing 
financing  for  businesses  facing  drops  in  revenue,  strengthening  resilience  and 
responsiveness  of  the  health  sector,  and  strengthening  the  financial  system.  It  also 
includes an investment programme to support economic recovery in the medium term. 
Public  demand  for  the  policy  response,  including  through  exemptions  from  social 
security contributions, benefits for employees in companies that are suspending their 
activity and access to loans for micro-enterprises, is high. The COVID-19 pandemic is 
expected to contribute to the GDP decline by 4,3% in 2020, followed by a recovery of 
4,1% in 2021.  

(18)  The COVID-19 pandemic made it necessary to put in place unprecedented measures in 
the  health  system.  Sizeable  outlays  such  as  purchasing  health-related  equipment  and 
supplies, increasing hospital and laboratory capacity, as well as strengthening staffing 
capacity, were made. Allocation of additional resources is needed also to compensate 
for other health services and investment that were postponed or redirected. Prior to the 

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COVID-19  outbreak,  public  expenditure  in  health  system  was  4,8%  of  GDP,  below 
the EU average of 7% of GDP in  2018. This, together with  suboptimal  allocation of 
funds,  hampers  the  operation  of  the  health  system  and  access  to  it.  In  2018,  the 
proportion  of  the  Polish  population  reporting  unmet  needs  for  medical  examinations 
amounted  to  4,2%,  substantially  higher  than  the  2%  at  Union  level.  The  number  of 
practising doctors and nurses relative to the population is still among the lowest in the 
Union and the distribution of the healthcare workforce is  uneven  across  the country. 
Public health, e-health and primary care, which are crucial to improve prevention and 
access, and to make the system resilient to future challenges, remain underdeveloped. 
The pandemic has impacted long-term care facilities where many of the residents are a 
high-risk group.   

(19)  The  COVID-19  pandemic  will  impact  significantly  the  labour  market,  reversing  the 
unemployment fall of recent years. The unemployment rate is set to revert from 3,3% 
in 2019 to around 7,5% in 2020, and slightly recover to 5,3% in 2021. This short-term 
impact  risks  becoming  more  structural  over  the  medium  term,  especially  for 
vulnerable groups. The temporary short-time work scheme could be an effective tool 
to preserve jobs, with sufficient incentives for its take-up by companies. At the same 
time, despite favourable developments prior to the COVID-19 crisis, the labour market 
participation  of  some  groups,  especially  women,  the  low-skilled,  older  people  and 
persons with disabilities and their carers, have remained low. Migration from non-EU 
countries has helped to mitigate the labour shortages, but continued inflow of migrant 
workers  may  be  difficult  to  achieve  due  to  border  control  restrictions.  The 
enhancement  of  flexible  working  arrangements,  including  distance  working  and 
flexible  time  working  schemes,  notably  under  permanent  types  of  employment,  may 
therefore help responding to the crisis and also help support groups with lower activity 
rates  finding  permanent  employment.  This  would  also  improve  labour  market 
resilience during future downturns.  

(20)  To  mitigate  the  social  impacts  of  the  COVID-19  pandemic,  sustain  social  cohesion 
and  support  the  economic  recovery,  substantial  safety  nets  are  required.  In  recent 
years,  Poland  launched  an  extensive  programme  of  social  transfers,  including  the 
universal  child allowance and the additional one-off benefit to  be paid  every  year to 
pensioners, worth nearly 2,5% of GDP per year. These measures are not means-tested 
and leave scope for better targeting. At the same time, coverage of social  benefits  is 
low for people with lowest-incomes. The biggest increase in extreme poverty reported 
in 2019 by the household budget survey was observed for people or families living on 
allowances (other than pensions and disability pensions), signalling the weaknesses in 
the  social  security  system.  Moreover,  not  all  types  of  labour  contracts  provide  an 
access  to  social  protection,  such  as  adequate  unemployment  benefits,  maternity 
benefits,  sickness  and  invalidity  benefits.  This  makes  some  workers  affected  by  the 
emergency  measures  more  vulnerable  and  puts  them  at  risk  of  falling  into  poverty. 
Additionally, the level of minimum income benefits is below the Union average.  

(21)  The  sudden  suspension  of  classes  at  all  educational  levels  has  posed  challenges  for 
the education system in providing distance learning. To prevent growing inequalities, 
it is crucial to ensure that all learners, in particular from disadvantaged backgrounds, 
can access distance learning. However, households of almost 330,000 pupils were not 
equipped  with  a  computer  with  internet  access  in  2018.  Significant  proportion  of 
teachers  lack  skills  to  provide  digital  learning.  At  the  same  time,  many  parents 
struggle  in  supporting  digital  learning  and  home-based  schooling.  Continuation  of 
measures to equip schools and teachers with digital infrastructure and on line teaching 

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materials would address some of these issues and ensure quality. The COVID-19 crisis 
brings out the overall structural challenge with digital skills attainment, as nearly half 
of  the  adult  population  lacks  basic  digital  skills,  and  overall  adults’  participation  in 
learning  is  significantly  lower  than  the  Union  average.  The  recent  reforms  in 
vocational education have not incentivised enough employers’ to participate in it and 
work-based  training  remains  underutilised.  Emerging  teacher  shortages  indicate  the 
need to increase the attractiveness of the teaching profession. 

(22)  The  COVID-19  outbreak  has  severely  impacted  working  conditions  of  businesses, 
especially  small  and  medium-sized  enterprises  (SMEs)  and  micro-enterprises. 
Offering  distance  working  arrangements  represents  a  challenge,  and  only  a  tenth  of 
Polish  enterprises  are  digitalised  enough  to  allow  for  quick  adaptation  to  new 
conditions.  One  of  the  main  obstacles  to  the  digitalisation  of  the  SMEs  are  the  low 
levels  of digital  literacy  among owners, managers and employees.  The use of  digital 
technologies  in  public  administration  is  key  to  ensure  the  provision  of  the 
governmental services as well as to steer the measures needed to monitor and manage 
the crisis. In addition, efficient digital public services lead to reduction of unnecessary 
regulatory and administrative burden, which can be crucial in the recovery phase.  

(23)  To mitigate the impact of the crisis, the Polish government offer substantial liquidity 
support through guarantees, loans and conditional grants to affected companies, with a 
focus on the SMEs and micro-enterprises. The government measures are supported by 
the National Bank of Poland, including by the treasury bonds purchase programme in 
the  secondary  market  and  considerable  interest  rate  cuts.  Effective  and  swift 
implementation of these measures and their effective transmission by intermediaries is 
essential to help the business sector to pursue their activity and facilitate recovery. In 
the  process  of  designing  and  implementing  these  measures,  the  resilience  of  the 
banking sector needs to be taken into account and the stability of the financial system 
needs to be monitored. Possibility to defer payments of taxes and social contributions 
and speeding up of contractual payments  by public authorities also  helps  to  improve 
the cash-flow of affected companies.   

(24)  To  foster  the  economic  recovery,  it  will  be  important  to  front-load  mature  public 
investment  projects  and  promote  private  investment,  including  through  relevant 
reforms. Polish economy is carbon intensive and  air quality stands among the lowest 
in the Union, posing major environmental and health concerns. Planning and adopting 
ambitious measures aimed at clean energy transition in a timely manner in accordance 
with  the  European  Green  Deal  and  the  National  Energy  and  Climate  Plan  is  thus 
essential. While fibre deployment in  Poland is  above the EU average and significant 
progress has been made in ultrafast and mobile broadband take-up in previous years, 
Poland  is  still  far  from  its  committed  connectivity  targets.  The  recovery  could  be 
further  supported  by  significant  investment  in  sustainable  transport  infrastructure  to 
improve  connectivity  between  peripheral  areas  and  centres  of  economic  activity. 
Poland  will  increasingly  rely  on  science  and  innovation  to  ensure  long-term 
sustainable economic growth and competitiveness. General spending on research and 
development  in  relation  to  GDP  remains  below  the  EU  average  and,  despite  visible 
progress  in  many  components  of  the  policy  mix  of  the  country’s  innovation 
ecosystem, the science-business cooperation remains a key obstacle on Poland’s way to 
strengthen  innovation.  The  programming  of  the  Just  Transition  Fund  for  the  period 
2021-2027 could help Poland to address some of the challenges posed by the transition 

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to a climate neutral economy, in particular in the territories covered by Annex D to the 
country report8. This would allow Poland to make the best use of that fund. 

(25)  A stable and predictable business environment and friendly investment climate play an 
important  role  in  a  post-pandemic  economic  recovery.  The  independence,  efficiency 
and  quality  of  the  justice  system  are  essential  components  in  this  respect.  Legal 
certainty,  including  access  to  independent  courts,  and  trust  in  the  quality  and 
predictability  of  regulatory  policies  and  institutions  are  also  crucial  factors  for  the 
operation  of  the  single  market  and  for  safeguarding  Poland’s  position  in  European 
supply chains in a post-pandemic situation. In addition to longstanding concerns over 
the rule of law in Poland raised by the Commission, a number of which were already 
addressed  in  rulings  of  the  Court  of  Justice  of  the  European  Union,  recent 
developments raise further concerns, putting at risk the functioning of the Polish and 
the Union’s legal order.  

(26)  Sound and stable regulatory environment is the basis for sustaining economic growth 
and  private  investment.  The  lack  of  proper  public  and  social  partners’  consultations 
has detrimental effect on the stability and robustness of the business environment, as 
well as on the quality of legislation. Public consultations were made obligatory for the 
draft laws proposed by the Council of Ministers, however, they are either not delivered 
or not obligatory for the proposals that are using alternative tracks, such as submission 
by the Members of Parliament. This inconsistency is further weighting on the quality 
of  the  resulting  legislation.  In  addition,  the  quality  of  the  social  dialogue  has 
deteriorated in the past years, in particular due to no or very short consultations in the 
policy-making  process.  Ensuring  sufficient  time  for  consultations,  improving  the 
uptake  of  stakeholders'  opinions  on  laws  and  policy  documents  and  minimising  the 
number  of  laws  exempted  from  consultations  would  strengthen  the  involvement  of 
social  partners  and  help  to  improve  the  quality  of  law-making.  The  Social  Dialogue 
Council constitutes an institutional framework for tripartite social dialogue. However, 
legal provisions adopted in April 2020 weaken the autonomy of the social partners in 
the  Social  Dialogue  Council  and  risk  further  deteriorating  the  effectiveness  of  social 
dialogue in the country.  

to  address  medium- 

(27)  While the present recommendations focus on tackling the socio-economic impacts of 
the  pandemic  and  facilitating  the  economic  recovery,  the  2019  country-specific 
recommendations adopted by the Council on 9 July 2019 also covered reforms that are 
essential 
structural  challenges.  Those 
recommendations remain pertinent and will continue to be monitored throughout next 
year’s  European  Semester  annual  cycle.  That  also  applies  to  recommendations 
regarding investment-related economic policies. The latter recommendations should be 
taken  into  account  for  the  strategic  programming  of  cohesion  policy  funding  post-
2020, including for mitigating measures and exit strategies with regard to the current 
crisis. 

long-term 

to 

(28)  The  European  Semester  provides  the  framework  for  continuous  economic  and 
employment  policy  coordination  in  the  Union,  which  can  contribute  to  a  sustainable 
economy.  Member  States  have  taken  stock  of  progress  regarding United  Nations’ 
Sustainable  Development  Goals  (SDGs)  implementation  in  their  2020  National 
Reform  Programmes.  By  ensuring  the  full  implementation  of  the  recommendations 
below, Poland  will  contribute  to  the  progress  towards  the SDGs and  to  the  common 
effort of ensuring competitive sustainability in the Union. 

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(29) 

In  the  context  of  the  2020  European  Semester,  the  Commission  has  carried  out  a 
comprehensive  analysis  of  Poland’s  economic  policy  and  published  it  in  the  2020 
country  report.  It  has  also  assessed  the  2020  Convergence  Programme  and  the  2020 
National  Reform  Programme  and  the  follow-up  given  to  the  recommendations 
addressed  to  Poland  in  previous  years.  It  has  taken  into  account  not  only  their 
relevance  for  sustainable  fiscal  and  socioeconomic  policy  in  Poland,  but  also  their 
compliance with Union rules and guidance, given the need to strengthen the Union’s 
overall  economic  governance  by  providing  Union-level  input  into  future  national 
decisions.  

(30) 

In  the  light  of  that  assessment,  the  Council  has  examined  the  2020  Convergence 
Programme and its opinion9 is reflected in particular in recommendation (1) below,  

HEREBY RECOMMENDS that Poland take action in 2020 and 2021 to: 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

In  line  with  the  general  escape  clause,  take  all  necessary  measures  to  effectively 
address the pandemic, sustain the economy and support the ensuing recovery. When 
economic  conditions  allow,  pursue  fiscal  policies aimed  at  achieving  prudent 
medium-term  fiscal  positions  and  ensuring  debt  sustainability, while  enhancing 
investment.  Improve resilience, accessibility and effectiveness of the health system, 
including  by  providing  sufficient  resources  and  accelerating  the  deployment  of  e-
health services.  

Mitigate  the  employment  impact  of  the  crisis  notably  by  enhancing  flexible  and 
short-time  working  arrangements.  Better  target  social  benefits  and  ensure  access  to 
those  in  need.  Improve  digital  skills.  Further  promote  the  digital  transformation  of 
companies and public administration.  

Continue efforts to secure access to finance and liquidity for companies. Front-load 
mature  public  investment  projects  and  promote  private  investment  to  foster  the 
economic recovery. Focus investment on the green and digital transition, in particular 
on  digital  infrastructure,  clean  and  efficient  production  and  use  of  energy,  and 
sustainable transport, contributing to a progressive decarbonisation of the economy, 
including in the coal regions.  

Enhance the investment climate, in particular by safeguarding judicial independence. 
Ensure  effective  public  consultations  and  involvement  of  social  partners  in  the 
policy-making process. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the Council 
The President 

9 

Under Article 5(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1466/97. 

EN 

8 

  EN