Polish Prime Minister sums up year, recent crisis in interview

Prime Minister Beata Szydło said that "successful" and "beneficial" economic development plans will continue in Poland during the coming year, and she assured the public that there would be no tax changes, and that her party, PiS, would consult in an open way with the Opposition in Parliament. She was speaking in a live interview with the press on Friday morning. "After a very careful examination of the case, we concluded that, at this point, we [will] not introduce it, mainly due to the [potential consequences] for entrepreneurs. Any implemented changes must be pro-investment for entrepreneurs...the tax system will operate [based] on the same principles as before," she said when asked about the tax situation. When asked by reporters about the implementation of investment programs, she elaborated on plans. "We have a program associated with start-ups and new technologies, [we are] running numerous investments in rail [development] and highways, there will be the Fiat Plus Program...we will be very actively involved with local municipal governments. The Apartment Plus program has the chance to kickstart the economy and affect the development of individual regions,” she said. When asked about fiscal savings, Szydło announced that there would be a change in the national fiscal administration beginning January 1. "The PLN 27.6 billion budget [will necessitate] sealing of the VAT system...we will have higher revenues and income and will [partake in] rational public spending. I do not want to pre-judge whether or not we can save more,” she said. She was asked about the implementation of the so-called Morawiecki Plan, and replied, "It will continue with the implementation of foreign investment...we have already had success this year. [For example], there was the Mercedes factory [expansion] and the implementation of projects within the Polish Armament Group. [These will] translate into serious benefits for the economy.” When she was asked about the Opposition's occupation of the Sejm (to January 11), she said, "PO and Nowoczesna [are] huge problems...both sides must [try] to work, to talk. PiS had many potential solutions, from our side dialogue is open... what is needed in Poland is dialogue. We want to talk about good projects for Poles." She concluded the answer to the question by saying, "It's a decision of the Opposition, whether they want to spend their holidays in the Hall of the Sejm, or they want to talk. People chose them not to devise demonstrations, but to work. Escalating tensions and the sharpening of emotions leads to bad things,” she said. When she was asked about the Constitutional crisis, she offered, "in the dispute [over the Court], we found another flash point ... Schetyna and Petru [want] to tear down and [do things that] lead to confusion," the PM asserted.