“There is no doubt whatsoever that the substantive competences of Tusk and his entourage are small. Actions in this direction have been and will be dictated by Germany, says Prof. Zbigniew Krysiak, Economist, Schuman Thought Institute.
READ MORE: Tusk, Merkel and raising the retirement age. A note has been released of the conversation with the politicians. Chancellor’s assumptions sound interesting
wPolityce.pl: From the note from the Prime Minister’s Chancellery, we learn that Donald Tusk consulted and supported the idea of raising the retirement age in Poland with the then German Chancellor Angela Merkel. What does this mean? Was it a good decision from the point of view of Polish or German interests?
prof. Zbigniew Krysiak: It was a bad decision. Donald Tusk is now pretending that he will no longer raise the retirement age. In the EU, and in Germany itself, they are currently considering raising the retirement age to 80 years. And here there is no doubt that the substantive competences of Tusk and his retinue are small. Actions in this direction were and will be dictated by Germany. Brussels and Germany cannot imagine how to manage the model of the free choice of seniors to work. Lifting is the preferred solution in Brussels and Berlin.
Apart from the main social issues, why is this an economically unfavorable model?
In Poland, we are seeing more and more people going to work even after reaching retirement age. Coercion ensures that people who are unable to do so or who are in poor physical condition lose their health forcibly. At the same time, the voluntary employment program must take into account the declining demographic situation across Europe. Only India and Africa will experience demographic growth in 50 to 100 years. That is why they wanted to introduce a model to involve seniors in the work. However, it is the system of voluntary employment that must be placed in the context of a declining demographic trend. There was a trend where people approaching retirement age were seen as weak and useless. And that’s not true. The content potential as a mentor and master is invaluable in many cases, both for those just entering the profession and for those with very little experience.
Why didn’t politicians pursue Polish economic interests? We also have a lot of German investments in Poland because we offer discounts to foreign investors. However, this need not be a defect. There are both opponents and proponents of such a solution. what do you think?
We in Poland had a strategy from the beginning of the transformation to sell the Polish assets of Leszek Balcerowicz. We then further restricted the freedom of small and medium-sized entrepreneurs by favoring large foreign investors in the Polish market by offering them huge tax reductions. They did not need these concessions, they received for free the large capital demanded by the market, destroying and selling Polish entities for a zloty. There was no understanding of these mechanisms. Also later on, unfortunately, there was a period when Mr. Jerzy Buzek became an ally of that policy in the AWS government. This is also the entire operation of the Tusk government. This restriction on freedom prevented our economy from developing. We had German economic policy in Poland all the time. French and Dutch companies were also beneficiaries.
Today, all of Poland is a special economic zone.
In 2018, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki declared all of Poland an economic zone. Previously, tens of millions of zlotys had to be invested in these specially designated zones, creating a barrier for Polish companies. Today you can place several hundred thousand of them. PLN and start investing anywhere in Poland. And for this, both foreign and Polish entrepreneurs receive tax relief.
Edyta Holdyńska spoke
Source: wPolityce