The French project of the European Political Community (EPC), including EU member states and 17 other countries in Europe and Eurasia, excluding Russia, has significant political and economic potential. The participation of EPC economies in the global GDP would be 23.5 percent. Currently, this area is home to 689.5 million people, which constitutes 8.7 percent of the world's population. The GDP per capita of countries outside the EU that would be part of the EPC is 88.8 percent of the EU average. The Polish Economic Institute, in its report titled "European Political Community: Geopolitics, Civilization, and the French Vision for the Future of the European Union," analyzes the French idea of the geopolitical and civilizational opening of the EU to other countries.

Poland is one of the leaders in the EU in terms of road freight transport. It was responsible for the transport of 380 billion tonne-kilometres (tkm) in 2021 — the most in the entire EU and 24% more than Germany, which ranks second. The Polish truck fleet consisted of 1.15 million vehicles in 2021. The sector employed 486,000 people in 2020, 15% of the EU total. The TSL industry is currently facing changes resulting from EU CO2 emission standards for trucks, which will force it to electrify. In its report entitled The electrification of the heavy-duty road transport created in cooperation with the Polish Alternative Fuels Association (PSPA), the Polish Economic Institute analyses the electrification scenarios for the sector and the potential economic consequences.

Building Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) could be an important form of support for the energy transition. According to official announcements by manufacturers, over 100 SMRs are set to be built in Poland by 2040. Experts indicate that, apart from producing energy for industry, SMRs’ greatest potential may lie in the production of system heat in the largest Polish agglomerations; for example, three reactors with a capacity of 900 MWt (300 MWe) could meet up to 80% of Warsaw's demand for system heat in 2040. At the same time, experts point out that — although they could play an important role in the decarbonisation process — building SMRs will not replace the need to invest in renewable energy and large-scale nuclear energy. These are the conclusions of the Polish Economic Institute’s report entitled Prospects for the use of SMRs in Poland’s energy transition, which analysed SMRs’ potential in the energy industry and the potential barriers to developing this technology.

The ICT sector in the Three Seas Initiative (TSI) countries is developing rapidly. The total value of exports of ICT goods and services from the TSI countries was USD 154 billion in 2021. The ICT industry generated USD 73 billion of value in the TSI countries and 4.7% of the region’s GDP. This has been accompanied by improvement in the level of digitalisation in the TSI countries. According to the DESI, the TSI countries are catching up with Finland, which opens the ranking, in three out of four categories. In a new report entitled “The ICT sector in the Three Seas Initiative countries as a regional driver of growth”, the Polish Economic Institute and the CEE Digital Coalition, a coalition of the digital industry in the Central and Eastern European countries, examine the TSI economies’ digital development and the ICT sector’s role and significance in the region.

By 2040, global demand for rare-earth elements is expected to increase seven-fold and demand for lithium 42-fold. China is the main producer in many categories of critical raw materials. Russia also remains a raw material powerhouse. 19% of the world's reserves of the metals needed to produce a standard lithium-ion battery are in Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s share in global cobalt production amounted to 71.2% in 2022. In its new report entitled “African critical raw materials and the EU's economic security”, the Polish Economic Institute analyses the demand for critical raw materials in the EU (and Poland) and its compatibility with the raw material reserves on the African continent.

The year 2022 was dominated by the Russian invasion on Ukraine and the rising inflation after the outbreak of the energy crisis. Since then inflation persists in the countries that the price spillovers originated from. The inflation of sticky prices increased more slowly than that of more flexible ones right after the energy crisis. This distorts the relative prices and probably requires another wave of adjustments in the stickiest categories. Polish Economic Institute in the report “The false start of disinflation – evidence from the major European economies” analyses the international risks related to inflation after the outbreak of the energy crisis in 2022.

Poland and other European Union countries are grappling with the economic slowdown. Economic growth in Poland over the next two years will be moderate: 0.7% in 2023 and 2.2% in 2024. In spite of this, inflation will remain high — 12.6% in 2023, on average, and 7.9% in 2024. Nevertheless, average wage growth will remain in double digits and household wealth will increase. The weaker economic activity is having little impact on the labour market. Unemployment will remain low over the next two years, fluctuating around 5.5%. These are the Polish Economic Institute’s forecasts presented in the PEI Economic Review — summer 2023.

1 January 2023 marked 30 years since the establishment of the European single market, which Poland has been benefiting from for over 18 years. Poland derives significant economic advantages from European Union membership. If it were not part of the single market, Poland's GDP per capita would be 31% lower and amount to 60% of the EU average. In 2018, almost a quarter of the country’s GDP was indirectly or directly dependent on the EU, and the demand from end consumers in Germany alone generated 1.15 million jobs. These are the conclusions of the Polish Economic Institute’s report entitled How Poland benefits from the single market.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has forced countries in the European Union to end their dependence on Russian gas. Although EU imports of gas (including LNG) increased by 37% in 2014-2021, after the invasion daily flows of Russian gas through pipelines to the EU fell sixfold within a year. Of the main gas markets in the EU, Poland — which was historically the most dependent on Russian supplies — managed to reduce its dependence on Russian imports to the greatest extent. Between 2014 and 2021, it reduced gas imports from Russia by 14% and, in Q1 2023, ended them completely. In its report Secure gas supplies for the winters to come. The European path from crisis to independence, the Polish Economic Institute analyses EU countries’ efforts to end their dependence on Russia and increase their energy security.

The Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) is the main tool used by the European Commission to measure the level of digitalization in EU countries. Although Poland achieved a score of 40.5 out of 100 in the index, placing it 24th among EU countries, the development level of several indicators is approaching that of the classification leaders, including Finland, Denmark, and Estonia. Despite the DESI methodology making it very difficult for member states to make any progress in the ranking, Poland is among the countries that are catching up fastest with the leaders. Currently, the index is undergoing a major transformation as part of the implementation of the Digital Decade, a new EU digitalization strategy. Therefore, changes are necessary in DESI to ensure a more objective assessment of the level of digitalization in individual EU countries, as outlined in the report by the Polish Economic Institute, "How to Measure the Digital Decade - Recommendations for an Evolution of the DESI Index."