The leader of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, Jarosław Kaczyński, has called some of the EU’s green policies “madness” based upon “unproven theories”. His remarks were published a day ahead of a European Council summit in Brussels to discuss high gas and electricity prices.
The Polish government under PiS has often clashed with Brussels on environmental issues, especially over reducing emissions from Poland’s coal-dependent energy sector. Poland is the only EU member state not to have signed up to the European Commission’s goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050.
Speaking to right-wing newspaper Gazeta Polska, Kaczyński said that “at least some of this so-called green policy is madness and, in other cases, [is] theories without evidence”. He added that “it cannot be said that Europe, which emits 8% of gases, changes the climate”.
Kaczyński – who is formally only a deputy prime minister but, as PiS chairman, is Poland’s de facto leader – added that recent “Russian action concerning gas” has made advocates of the European Commission’s target of reducing carbon emissions by 55% by 2030 “look ridiculous”.
It is “clearly visible” that the “actions of Russians aimed at raising gas prices” had “radically changed energy security on our continent”, he added, without specifying the exact actions he had in mind.
“Energy prices have hit many EU countries with such force that their citizens will simply not agree to further increases in the name of some unproven theory,” continued Kaczyński.
Poland has also faced sharp rises in electricity prices over recent months but has now been outpaced by other European countries as global gas and oil prices increased faster relative to coal, which provides more than 70% of Poland’s energy.
The PiS chairman’s comments came a day ahead of a European Council summit in Brussels, where the Polish government has called for a delay to the European Commission’s “Fit for 55” plan. Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans has said that the transition away from fossil fuels should not be slowed by rising gas prices.
In his interview with Gazeta Polska, Kaczyński also referred to the latest clash between Warsaw and Brussels over the rule of law, which has left Poland facing the possibility of losing out on billions of euros in EU funds.
The PiS chairman told the newspaper that Poland could find money to finance its infrastructure spending plans without help from the EU. “But I am convinced that we will receive this money,” he added.
Also commenting on a recent spat with the Czech Republic over a coal mine, he said that the decision of the European Court of Justice to punish Warsaw with €500,000 daily fines was “illegal”, “one big fraud”, a “scandal” and “far-reaching exceeding of competences”.
But he added cryptically that, “sometimes in politics, even harmful solutions are accepted for a time, only to ultimately turn into benefits”.
Main image credit: Bartek Banaszak/Greenpeace Polska (under CC BY-ND 2.0)
Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She is a regular writer for The Times, The Economist and Al Jazeera English, and has also featured in Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, The Spectator and Gazeta Wyborcza.
