Piotr Arak: The far-right Alternative for Germany party celebrated another strong showing in the former Communist East in local elections.

Piotr Arak: The European economy is one of the biggest in the world. We tend to forget that we have more than 500 million consumers and an economy worth 15.9 trillion euros, meaning more than China and almost as much as the US.

Piotr Arak: The Green Deal for Europe has the chance to become a hallmark of Ursula von der Leyen’s European Commission. Transition to a climate neutral economy means an ambitious, costly and far-reaching transformation, impacting the living standards of all social groups.

Piotr Arak: The European Union’s cohesion policy risks a major reduction of funds under the next Multiannual Financial Framework, despite its palpable effects on economic growth and competitiveness.

Piotr Arak: The United States has its liberalism, and Europe has its welfare state, which is so attractive that a few years ago the Union was flooded with a wave of immigrants from the Middle East and Africa.

GovTech, understood as innovative solutions designed for use by public administration, is one of the most prospective and attractive economic areas for businesses. Its value in Europe is expected to triple by 2025. These figures come from a report by the Polish Economic Institute (PIE) on the potential of the GovTech market in Poland.

Piotr Arak: The 27 European Union countries have still not agreed on the multiannual financial framework for 2021-2027. Without a clear UK decision on Brexit, the construction of the next EU budget is impossible.

Each euro spent on cohesion policy generates nearly three euros in GDP impact, according to the Polish Economic Institute (PIE) report “Cohesion policy, or solidarity in action.” The greatest beneficiaries are Portugal, Greece, and Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. However, the European Commission is already planning budget cuts to a policy that absorbed EUR 787.96 billion between 1989 and 2013.

Piotr Arak: Since the 1980s, inequality has been growing everywhere on Earth, except in Western Europe but otherwise in Russia. The communists became oligarchs and the oligarchs became state employees of the Putin’s government.

Among the Visegrad Group countries, Poland and Czechia had the largest number of enterprises manufacturing motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers.