The report by Mario Draghi published in September paints a bleak economic future for the European Union, unless it undertakes multi-billion investments in innovation. The problems with the competitiveness of the European economy, including the Polish economy, are also noticed by entrepreneurs. The solution would be to invest public funds from both governments and the entire Community in IT technologies.
“The competitiveness of European companies has decreased significantly because we have several obligations imposed, such as issues related to the green economy and ESG. Third countries don’t have such obligations and therefore their prices are significantly lower,” says Marek Kowalski, Chairman of the Federation of Polish Entrepreneurs. “If third countries don’t have so many obligations imposed, the offers they make in the context of public procurement in the European Union, especially in Poland, are much lower.”
The report, published after a year of work by the former Italian Prime Minister and head of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi, alarmingly diagnoses the state of competitiveness of the European economy compared to the American or Asian “tigers”. Despite China’s problems with its still shaky real estate market, restrained consumer consumption, and administratively obstructed access to modern technologies, the country aims to achieve a 5% economic growth this year. Economists assume that if the recently announced stimulus package really comes into effect, this goal can be achieved. GDP in the United States is expected to grow at a rate half as slow. In the euro zone, GDP will not exceed 1% according to IMF forecasts.
“We must openly admit that we in the EU are technologically far removed from Asian countries and the United States, because progress in Europe is much slower. We always relied on goods from China, which were much cheaper, and now we have created this problem for ourselves. In addition, both the United States and Asian countries subsidize their entrepreneurs who export their products,” says Marek Kowalski. “I think that this is to be regulated right now in the customs directive, which is being prepared in the European Union. I am not talking about stopping imports from third countries, but about equalizing the chances of competing in the European market.”
Investments in digital technologies and technological innovations are primarily needed, which would allow the distance to be bridged between the European economy, based on traditional industry and services, to technologically advanced Asian countries and the United States. According to Mario Draghi’s report, the EU should allocate 750-800 billion euros annually for this purpose. The authors propose issuing common European debt for this purpose.
“Digital technologies can certainly help Polish companies, but they are most often developed in Asian countries, Singapore leads here, but also in the United States,” notes the Chairman of the Federation of Polish Entrepreneurs. “So on the one hand, yes, they can certainly help, on the other hand, Europe should invest, and Poland too, in digital technologies. I recall that we have excellent IT specialists in Poland and I think that this is the way for the Polish government to invest in the development of IT technologies.”
As he emphasizes, the biggest threats for Polish entrepreneurs are the carbon footprint and high energy prices. The carbon footprint of a company refers to the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted by a company as a result of its operations and production processes. It refers to the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) or nitrous oxide (N2O), which contribute to the greenhouse effect. From 2024, companies employing more than 500 workers will be required to report on their carbon footprint. In 2025, entities employing more than 250 workers will join them, and from 2026 also selected small and medium-sized enterprises, which however will be able to report their lack of readiness to carry out calculations until 2028.
In turn, energy prices in Poland are higher than in most other EU countries, as the Chairman of the Federation of Polish Entrepreneurs points out – in some cases even twice as high. According to Polityka Insight data, after seven months of the current year, the average wholesale electricity price in Poland was 90 euros per MWh on average. Higher prices were recorded during this period only in Ireland (98.68 euros per MWh) and in Italy (95-98 euros per MWh).
“The competitive advantage of Polish entrepreneurs is their speed of adapting to changes. In difficult situations, when we had Covid, war in Ukraine, Polish entrepreneurs kept adapting and as we know, Polish GDP did not drop that much, and we, entrepreneurs, are the main creators of GDP. We have good scientific achievements, but we do not have well-targeted funds that the government would invest in the economic development of entrepreneurs,” stresses Marek Kowalski.
