Update of 2020/2021
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REPUBLIC OF POLAND [National Reform Programme | Europe 2020] UPDATE OF 2020/2021 Approved by the Council of Ministers on 28 April 2020 Table of contents List of boxes, charts, tables ..................................................................................................................... 3 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 4 2. Macroeconomic scenario ................................................................................................................. 6 3. Response to the COVID-19 (‘Anti-crisis Shield’) ............................................................................... 7 Pillar I: Security of employees ............................................................................................................. 7 Pillar II: Enterprise support ................................................................................................................ 12 Pillar III: Healthcare ........................................................................................................................... 23 Pillar IV: Strengthening of the financial system ................................................................................ 27 Financial shield of the Polish Development Fund ............................................................................. 30 4. Response to findings from the Executive Summary of the Country Report – Poland 2020 .......... 33 5. Investment strategy ....................................................................................................................... 36 6. Measures in response to the priorities of the Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy for 2020 ..... 48 a) Environmental sustainability ..................................................................................................... 48 b) Increased efficiency ................................................................................................................... 53 c) Justice ......................................................................................................................................... 63 7. Measures towards the implementation of the 2019 Country-Specific Recommendations .......... 72 8. Progress towards the Europe 2020 strategy targets ..................................................................... 84 9. The institutional process of NRP updating and involvement of stakeholders ............................... 87 Appendices: ........................................................................................................................................... 88 1. Summary of the implementation of measures specified in NRP 2019/2020 ............................ 88 2. Opinions of socio-economic partners on the documents of 2020 European Semester ............ 99 2 List of boxes, charts, tables Box 1. Coordination of the achievement of SDG by Poland .................................................................. 35 Box 2. Development of the start-up ecosystem .................................................................................... 58 Box 3. Projects aimed at developing e-services in the healthcare sector (Ministry of Health, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration) ................................................................................................. 67 Chart 1. Employment rate among people aged 20 to 64 ...................................................................... 84 Chart 2. R&D expenditure in relation to GDP, target achievement forecast ........................................ 84 Chart 3. Share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption. Target achievement forecast ............................................................................................................................................................... 85 Chart 4. Use of primary energy (grey) and the level of CO2 equivalent emissions in non-ETS sectors in comparison to 2005 (blue) .................................................................................................................... 85 Chart 5. Early leavers from education and training (black), people aged 30–34 with higher education degree (blue), and forecasts on the basis of the trend for years 2001–2018 (grey dotted line). .... Error! Bookmark not defined. Chart 6. The number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion and the forecast of decrease based on the trend from 2008–2018. ................................................................................................... 86 Table 1. Implementation of CSR 2019 to date ...................................................................................... 75 3 1. Introduction National Reform Programmes (NRPs), updated each year, are a basic instrument for coordinating economic and social policies in the European Union within a cycle known as a European Semester. Along with the updates of the NRP, Member States submit to the European Commission the updates of their Stability or Convergence Programmes, which confirms the consistency of structural reform programming and budget planning processes. The European Semester was introduced in early 2010s, primarily as a tool to implement the Europe 2020 strategy adopted at that time. In the context of the upcoming expiry of this strategy, the current NRP, despite retaining its existing name, was supposed to be a document bridging Europe 2020 strategy and a new EU strategy for sustainable development after 2020, the directions of which were specified by the European Commission in December 2019 in its communication on the European Green Deal. The achievement of climate neutrality goal by 2050 and moving towards the implementation of UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was also confirmed by the Commission Communication of 17 December 2019 on the Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy 2020 (ASGS), which initiated the current European Semester. Since then the situation has changed radically. The outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic caused serious concerns related to public health throughout the world. At the same time, there are growing concerns about economic consequences. Currently, it is difficult to determine what impact this forced economic freeze will have on supply chains, household demand and financial stability of the economy. Therefore, the governments, but also businesses and other market players verify their expectations regarding growth in the short- and long-term perspective. As the current situation is unprecedented and highly dynamic, some key factors may be missing in models based on macroeconomic fundamentals and such models may even be unable to reflect ongoing changes. The draft NRP prepared in mid-March had to undergo far-reaching modifications. First of all, the document was extended by a set of measures aimed at directly fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and counteracting its widening economic impact, known as the ‘anti-crisis shield package’ (see Chapter 3). Fast and radical measures preventing the consequences of the pandemic mean a higher short-term economic cost but possibly a lower long-term cost, thanks to stopping the spread of the coronavirus. Depending on further developments, the Polish government declares that the scope of public intervention will be adjusted to needs and the Anti-crisis Shield will be extended by further economic policy tools. As a result, a list of measures included in the NRP is not exhaustive. According to guidelines, the NRP presents a very preliminary assessment of the macroeconomic situation and a scenario for the coming months (Chapter 2). The government decided to preserve the product of work on this document, which was prepared over several months by many ministries and central agencies. It should be noted, however, that the implementation of the planned measures depends on the developments in Poland and around the world. The roadmap of measures and financial implications were planned before the epidemic outbreak. Today they should be seen as indicative only. At the same time, the financial implications of measures will not constitute liabilities for the State budget until their adoption by the Council of Ministers. Therefore, Chapter 4 presents a general political response to the main findings presented by the European Commission in the ‘Country Report. Poland 2020.’ At the same time it should be noted that the assessments expressed there by the European Commission and the Polish responses were both formulated in a different social and economic reality and today they should be reconsidered in the light of new conditions. Chapter 5 presents an investment strategy, focusing mainly on the 4 presentation of programmes supporting so-called "green investments". Measures presented there, originally intended to implement the new development paradigm, today will be treated as supporting the economy in its recovery after the COVID-19 crisis. Chapter 6 of the NRP presents references to the priorities of the Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy, being the governing document of the European Semester, and the Polish attitude to the implementation of sustainable development goals. Poland accepts the direction set by the European Commission in its intention to strengthen the presence of sustainable development issues in the European Semester, including the environmental and climate dimension. This does not mean, however, that all SDG goals and targets should be implemented and monitored within