The tariff policy announced by Donald Trump will impact the Polish economy, although the effects will be moderate. While the United States is only Poland’s 8th largest trading partner, it is the second-largest recipient of Polish value added after Germany—57% of the $23 billion of Polish value added consumed in the U.S. reaches the country indirectly through other nations. Overall, 2.6% of Poland’s GDP is generated thanks to U.S. demand for Polish value added. If the U.S. imposes 25% tariffs on imports from the EU, Poland’s GDP could fall by 0.38–0.43%. These are the findings of a report by the Polish Economic Institute titled “Potential consequences of changes in U.S. trade policy for the Polish economy.”

Countries’ experiences in shaping their development and raising the technological level of their economies are highly unique. Close coordination and collaboration in implementing innovation strategies is of key importance. Increasing investment in R&D is also essential. At the same time, it is difficult to define a single, unequivocal strategy that guarantees success, as there are many diverse development paths. These depend not only on the initial economic situation of a country but also on geopolitical, socioeconomic, and structural factors within society. These are the main conclusions of the PEI report "Development Pathways: How Have Countries Raised the Level of Technological Advancement", which analyzes the development trajectories of selected countries—Germany, South Korea, China, Finland, Malaysia, and Estonia—that have successfully increased their economies’ technological advancement. These countries represent three groups at different stages of development. The report aims to identify key success factors in R&D, support for start-ups and SMEs, human capital development, and the creation of effective innovation ecosystems.

The increasing use of cyber technologies requires simultaneous efforts to strengthen cybersecurity. Both the EU and individual Member States have been increasing investments in this area over the past few years. The current Multiannual Financial Framework (2021–2027) allocates approximately EUR 2,9 billion for cybersecurity from EU funds, marking a nearly 200% increase compared to the previous framework (2014–2020). A comparison between the USA and the EU illustrates the scale of the challenge: not only does the US spend more on cybersecurity (approximately 13 bn USD by civilian agencies, not including military spending), but also North American companies spend more than twice as much on cybersecurity as their European counterparts. Hence it is imperative to reconsider the amount of funds for cybersecurity and its allocation within the European Union, particularly those distributed through EU funding mechanisms. These are the conclusions of the PEI policy paper “Methods of Systemic Funding for Cybersecurity Investments in the EU.”

The European "dark doldrum" (Dunkelflaute) from November 4-14, 2024, when heavy cloud cover and a lack of wind occurred simultaneously, necessitated covering energy system losses using dispatchable sources. This phenomenon, regularly observed in many EU countries, highlights one of the challenges in estimating energy production costs. The world's most widely used metric, LCOE (Levelized Cost of Electricity), only describes the cost of generating electricity from a given source. However, LCOE does not account for all costs associated with integrating a generation unit into the power system to ensure stable electricity supply. In cases of "dark doldrum," which forces renewable energy-based infrastructure to rely on dispatchable sources, relying solely on LCOE significantly underestimates real costs. According to PEI’s analysis, LCOE-based calculations should be supplemented with additional indicators such as VALCOE or LCOLC. This combination would provide a more comprehensive picture of the costs associated with different energy sources in the power system, as detailed in the PEI report "Exceeding LCOE: Calculating Energy Costs in Energy Policy Formation."

Reforming the telecommunications market will be one of the key challenges for the new European Commission. The goal is to strengthen European companies by facilitating the creation of large, pan-European operators, as outlined in EC documents and highlighted in reports by Draghi and Letta. The market value of European companies in this sector dropped by 41% between 2015 and 2023, while the market value of American telecoms grew by 20% and tech companies soared by 357% in the same period. Risks associated with the emergence of a few large operators—particularly in cases of consolidation within domestic markets—include potential price increases and reduced investments in peripheral areas. For telecommunications companies to strengthen their competitive position, they need to shift their business models and expand their scale of operations to go beyond narrowly defined telecom activities and engage in deeper collaboration, including with industry. These findings come from the report by the Polish Economic Institute, "The European Telecommunications Market: Challenges of the Transformation Era."

The new European Commission, which began its 2024-2029 term on December 1, 2024, must address a range of challenges, such as restoring EU competitiveness and ensuring security. This requires a comprehensive approach that touches upon the foundations of the EU's economic and social policies. Industrial policy needs modern financial solutions, protection from disruptions to the single market, and support for production capacities. This calls for an active trade policy that expands market access, diversifies sources of raw materials, and simultaneously protects the domestic market from unfair competition. On the internal market, efforts to eliminate barriers in services must be accelerated, and regulatory harmonization between countries must be ensured—this is particularly crucial for the telecommunications sector. These and other policies require adequate funding, which means a bold EU budget that can support diverse directions to safeguard the European economic model. The Polish Economic Institute's report, "What Policies for a Secure and Competitive Europe? 10 Ideas for the European Commission," identifies 10 priority areas for the new European Commission along with recommended actions.

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) will have a significant impact on the labour market. Some tasks will be simplified, while others will disappear entirely. Among the 20 occupational groups most vulnerable to the impact of AI are specialist positions, including finance professionals, lawyers, certain government officials, administrative specialists, and programmers. These jobs employ 3.68 million Poles, of whom 2.16 million are women, and 1.53 million are men. Poles are divided in their views on the effects of AI on the labour market: 25.8% believe that AI will positively impact job numbers, while 33.4% think it will have a negative effect. These conclusions come from a report by the Polish Economic Institute (PIE) titled "AI on the Polish labour market."

The European Union is looking for ways to diversify the supply of critical raw materials. Latin America, where 25 out of 34 raw materials identified as critical by the European Commission are mined, can play an important role. It is home to 56.7 % of the world's lithium reserves and 94.1 % of the world's niobium reserves. Between 2022 and 2023 alone, the combined total of planned and active mining investment projects in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru amounted to USD 178 billion. The region's political and economic instability remains a challenge to plans to increase mining, with 28 % of the world's documented environmental conflicts with local communities, among other factors. These are the conclusions of the Polish Economic Institute's report Latin America's critical raw materials and the economic security of the European Union

The Polish economy is emerging from a slowdown. GDP growth in 2024 will be 2.6 percent, and in 2025 – 4.1 percent. Inflation in those years will be 3.6 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively. The unemployment rate will remain one of the lowest in the entire European Union. By the end of 2024, the registered unemployment rate will be 5.3 percent. Also, wage growth in 2024 will maintain a double-digit pace – averaging 12.3 percent. These conclusions come from the “PEI Economic Review: Spring 2024” report published by the Polish Economic Institute.

20 years ago, Poland and nine other countries joined the European Union. According to an analysis by the Polish Economic Institute, the GDP per capita of the eight countries in the region is 27 % higher than it would have been had they not joined the EU. The figure for Poland is 40 %. Central European countries are beneficiaries of European funds. In total, they have received EUR 355 billion. The greatest benefits, however, have come primarily from the single market: the inflow of foreign direct investment, the cumulative value of which has increased 21-fold, and integration into global supply chains. The value added generated in ICT services doubled between 2008 and 2021. The region needs to continue to close the development gap, primarily in increasing innovation and improving quality of life and education. These are the main conclusions in the Polish Economic Institute's report “The Big Bang Enlargement. 20 Years of Central Europe’s Membership in the EU”