Poland and the euro

[5][6] Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said that he may agree to a referendum on euro participation in order to gain their support for a constitutional amendment.

On the other hand, in 2024, Tusk’s finance minister Domański said that adopting the euro is currently not justified and that the złoty helped Poland avoid recession during the global financial crisis and to weather other shocks.

In 2006, prime minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz stated that the accession to euro area was only possible after 2009, as the Polish deficit could decrease to 3% of GDP by the end of 2007.

[14] On 5 November 2009, speaking at the news conference, Polish Deputy Finance Minister Ludwik Kotecki said the government may announce a national strategy for euro adoption in mid-2010.

[20] In December 2011, Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski said that Poland aimed to adopt the euro on 1 January 2016, but only if "the eurozone is reformed by then, and the entrance is beneficial to us.

[5][6][26][27] The Polish Finance Minister emphasised that the government's support for euro adoption remained unchanged as a strategic goal, and would not be changed in the updated plan.

[29] In January 2013, Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski stated that a decision on euro adoption should not be made until after parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for 2015, but that in the meantime the country should try to comply with the convergence criteria.

[30] Rostowski has stated that Poland will not set a target date for the switch since the country first needs to carry out reforms to prepare itself.

[38] The newly elect Prime Minister, Ewa Kopacz, having replaced Donald Tusk for the final year of the government's term, at the same time commented: "Before answering the question which target date should be set for the euro changeover, we must ask another: What is the situation of the eurozone and where are they going?

[nb 1] More recently, Krzysztof Szczerski, the foreign affairs advisor to Poland's new President Andrzej Duda, said in July 2015 that "Poles should decide in a referendum whether they want to embrace the euro".

On 13 April 2019 at a convention, Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of Law and Justice party stated: "We will adopt the euro someday, because we are committed to do so and we are and will be in the European Union, but we will accept it when it is in our interest".

[45] This statement shows that the change of government, after the defeat of the PiS in the 2023 elections, did not modify the stance of Poland on the adoption of the euro.

While Donald Tusk held the post of the prime minister in Poland, first steps have been taken towards the creation of a interinstitutional organizational structure for euro adoption.

[46] On 13 January 2009, the Government Plenipotentiary for Euro Adoption in the Republic of Poland was established, with Ludwik Kotecki being chosen for the role.

[53] The NBP report from 2009 concluded that in the long-term, Poland's GDP would expand by an extra 7.5% if it became a member of the eurozone, with most of that benefit coming in the first 10 years after joining.

[98] A later poll for the German Marshall Fund, published in September 2012, even found 71% of Poles believed an immediate switch to the euro would be bad for the Polish economy.

[99] The Maastricht Treaty originally required that all members of the European Union join the euro once certain economic criteria are met.

Finally, according to Article 198(1), the President of the NBP carries responsibility before the State Tribunal, which is against requirements of the independence of the national central bank.