Fundacja im. Stefana Batorego

News

Poland’s top modern art gallery risks stagnation under political appointee

By directly appointing an unqualified candidate to lead the Zachęta gallery, rather than holding an open call for the position, the culture ministry risks harming one of Poland’s most important cultural institutions. It is not too late to change the decision - writes Piotr Kosiewski and Edwin Bendyk.

Debate

The European Green Deal: A recipe for development or a source of conflict?

The green transition presents a particularly daunting challenge in Poland, due to the country’s dependence on coal, strong political polarisation, and populist model of state governance. In such conditions, is it possible to reach a social consensus on the goals and implementation of the green transition? What is the risk that the process will become another source of polarisation and social instability? We invite you to the online debate on December 7.

Analysis

Legal opinion on the legal consequences of the Constitutional Tribunal ruling

On October 7, 2021 the Polish Constitutional Tribunal ruled that some provisions of the Treaty on European Union are incompatible with the Polish constitution and questioned the powers of the CJEU to rule on the independence of the judiciary in Poland. What are the legal consequences of this ruling? Legal opinion written by Piotr Bogdanowicz.

Debate

Should the EU fear Polexit?

The ruling of the government-controlled Constitutional Tribunal opens the next stage of the political and legal confrontation between the Polish government and the European Union. During the online debate by ECFR Warsaw and ideaForum of the Batory Foundation we will discuss what are the consequences of judgment for Poland and for the European Union. We will ask experts whether Poland has actually entered the path of polexit and what the EU should do to defend its legal space and protect the authority of the CJEU.

Rule of law

Statement on the CT decision on the compatibility of the Treaty on UE with the Polish Constitution

The Constitutional Tribunal decision directly undermines the principles that Poland committed to when it joined the EU in 2004. The ruling on the unconstitutionality of the TUE provisions is not only a blatant violation of EU law, but also a violation of the Polish Constitution, based on which Poland respects the international law - writes The Legal Experts Group of the Batory Foundation.

Commentary

The politicisation of the National Polish Broadcasting Council

A new issue could soon be added to the growing list of ways in which Poland is accused of violating EU law: the media market and the country’s National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT). Bills regulating the KRRiT – including the latest one, which is meant to lead to the sale of private broadcaster TVN – do not secure its independence – writes Szymon Ananicz.

Rule of law

Statement on the CT ruling on interim measures imposed by the Court of Justice of the EU

Legal Experts Group: The so-called “reforms” of the Polish judiciary introduced over the past few years are actually destroying it. They violate both the Constitution and European Union law, because the Constitution and the founding Treaties are built on the same axiological basis – the values of the democratic state and the rule of law.

Rule of law

What kind of Europe will EU funds reconstruct?

The European Union is not merely a community based on democracy and the rule of law. It is also an organisation which functions in a way advantageous to undemocratic governments and may strengthen their authoritarian impulses.

Rule of law

EU Recovery Fund Could Bolster Autocrats; Brussels Needs to Act

A breakdown of the rule of law in Poland from an upcoming ruling by its constitutional court and the parallel inflow of huge EU funds will prove a toxic mix with ramifications for the entire bloc - writes Piotr Buras.

Rule of law

Statement of the Legal Experts Group regarding the Prime Minister’s petition to the Constitutional Tribunal

We warn that if the Constitutional Tribunal rules in accordance with the Prime Minister’s petition, Poland will be in violation of the international obligations to which it freely consented. The state will then be obliged to bear responsibility for this or may be forced to leave the European Union in order to withdraw from its commitments.

Analysis

Citizens’ Involvement in Public Procurement Decisions

In public policy, in which party programmes translate into specific public decisions, closer contact with citizens was deemed to make these decisions not only more acceptable for society but also qualitatively better and closer to the realities of everyday life - writes Grzegorz Makowski.

Analysis

CGFLI: a needs-based or a politics-based scheme?

The Central Government Fund for Local Investments created a divide into categories of "better" and "worse" or "our" and "your" local authorities. With an extremely non-transparent procedure and arbitrary evaluation criteria, the money seems to have been split based on the local authority’s political colours.

Analysis

The Central Government Fund for Local Investments III

Prof. Jarosław Flis and Prof. Paweł Swianiewicz examine the distribution of funds from the third instalment of the CGFLI. The average municipality with a ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) mayor still received over ten times more in grants.

Commentary

Compromise and What Next?

The compromise made at the European Union summit in December 2020 does not end the battle to protect the rule of law in the EU. We present possible further initiatives for EU institutions, civil society organisations, European parties and member states.

Analysis

Laying the groundwork for “grand corruption”

Due to the degradation of the separation of powers and of the rule of law in Poland the risk of corruption increases. In the study we describe in detail the Polish government’s (anti-)corruption activities in 2015–2019 and present the way out.

European Union

We don’t want to be sued into silence

EU-wide legislation should be adopted to protect people across the European Union from Strategic Lawsuit against Public Participation (SLAPP). This has to be a priority - together with 100 NGOs we singed an open letter.

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Publications

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645 positions

Nie ma prostej recepty na ochronę wolności słowa w Internecie

Krzysztof Izdebski

Transformacja UE a mandat społeczny.

Agnieszka Smoleńska
and others

HiT zamiast WoS. Jakie zmiany w edukacji obywatelskiej proponuje Minister Edukacji i Nauki?

Łukasz Zamęcki

Prowadzenie polityki przestrzennej w gminie. Miniporadnik

Radosław Jończak

Centra usług społecznych – czy poprawią dostęp do usług społecznych i ich jakość?

Ryszard Szarfenberg

Dotacje rządowe na inwestycje samorządowe – podsumowanie doświadczeń z perspektywy małych gmin

Jarosław Flis,
Paweł Swianiewicz

Pakt uczciwości. Społeczny monitoring zamówień publicznych

Grzegorz Makowski
and others

The liquidation of social organisations in Belarus: what happened and what comes next for Belarusian civil society

Yury Arlouski

Likwidacja organizacji społecznych w Białorusi: co się wydarzyło i co dalej z białoruskim społeczeństwem obywatelskim

Juryj Arłouski

Korupcja w Polsce – ambiwalentne oceny opinii publicznej

Grzegorz Makowski

Evaluation of the Integrity Pact Pilot. Final Report

Marek Dudkiewicz

Stosunki UE–Ukraina: rzut oka

Dmytro Shulga

EU-Ukraine relations: a snapshot

Dmytro Shulga

W jaki sposób pogarszanie się sytuacji finansowej wpływa na zmiany w realizowanych politykach lokalnych?

Julita Łukomska,
Paweł Swianiewicz

Opinia prawna w sprawie ustawy o zmianie ustawy o ochronie granicy państwowej

Sławomir Patyra

Murem za Polską

Szymon Ananicz

Kryzys polsko-białoruski i kwestia migracji. Międzynarodowy kontekst i możliwe sposoby zarządzania

Klaus Bachmann

Pakt uczciwości, czyli obywatele w przetargach

Grzegorz Makowski,
Marcin Waszak

The Integrity Pact – or Citizens in Tenders

Grzegorz Makowski,
Marcin Waszak

Pokolenia. Solidarni w rozwoju

Agnieszka Chłoń-Domińczak
and others

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