News / €80 billion for Poland new EU budget [166]


No pressure except the constitutional dictat that limits Poland's deficit to an absolute maximum of 60% GDP (with legal thresholds at 50 and 55%, at which intervention must be done or the government held accountable). This is why Tusk has set up this extraordinary vehicle using a state-owned bank (BGK) channelling revenue from state-owned institutions into state-backed loans. "Oh, but that's not government debt" declares PO. No-one's fooled by it, but that's how close to the brink Poland is with its borrowing; it needs to get that deficit dropping NOW or people at the top level start going to prison.


Of course not everything. But Poland certainly wouldn't be where it was without EU funds; it takes money to make money. And if there's no money to start with, then you can't make more.

I am curious as to what you mean by "Western media" though.

Love / Polish couples living out of wedlock? [108]

regarding language, it might be worth pointing out that PUBLIC and STATE schools are two different things in English. PUBLIC is, strangely, a type of PRIVATE school. This might clear up some of the "discussion" in this thread.

News / €80 billion for Poland new EU budget [166]


Not necessarily. You HAVE to have car insurance (a service) if you own a car (a product). You have to have insurance and probably a mortgage (both services) if you want to own a house (a product). Every laptop needs software, and admin staff to help you use it. Every mobile phone needs people making sure you paid your bill, and to check the antennae are working every day, and that the data is backed up.

You only sell a product once, but the service that goes with it generates money for years afterwards, in maintenance fees, insurances, billing and so on. And that means for every factory worker employed, there are five more keeping the product "in service".

Poland currently has a healthy mix of all three business sectors (primary; mining and farming, secondary; manufacturing, and tertiary; services). This is the basic formula that has protected it during the crisis. But the fact that Poland doesn't have its "own brand" car or mobile phone or watch is nothing to be ashamed of. Britain used to have 140 car manufacturers after WW2, now it has, hmmm, 3? And yet it still manages to employ around 180,000 in car manufacturing, and 640,000 in car-related services.


Important how? Economically? Militarily? You need money to do that...

News / €80 billion for Poland new EU budget [166]


And is there a problem with that?

If you want a smaller example, read the history of the British Motoring Corporation. One company producing the SAME product under six different names, all selling to the same market, bankrupting itself. The EU is just a bigger version of that; one superpower (500m of the world's richest people) with 27 different factories all producing the same things and trying to compete with each other. It's a massive waste of resources, and business suicide. Germany builds the best cars; what's the point in a Polish company trying to make a competitor to Mercedes? Even if the product is good, the companies go into a price war until one goes bankrupt. Pointless, painful, and detrimental to the economy.

I'm not saying the EU is perfect (the amount of money French farmers get is outrageous and indefensible) but as a mechanism for Poland to grow into a really important nation, it's better than "going it alone".

EDIT:


I haven't edited anything in that post; I'm not sure what you're accusing me of.

News / €80 billion for Poland new EU budget [166]


Stuck in a limbo where they couldn't make their products any cheaper, and couldn't raise any more capital for investment. For a business, "surviving" in the sense of paying your bills every month is fine for a while, but sooner or later you need a new product, a better service or simply a cheaper offer. None of the companies you mentioned could offer that, which is why they got bought out. Even TP S.A is owned by France Telecom.

Even companies offering "the same old product" (meat, dairy, beer, haircuts) need money to replace their old and tired equipment. If they go to a bank and ask for a loan, the bank will ask "how will you grow my investment?" How do you reply? "Well, we were hoping to just do the same old thing we always did, you know". And the banker smiles politely, and says he'll call you back, which he never will.

Of course there are a few big companies in Poland - the world's largest copper producer is one of them. But it's senseless trying to isolate Poland and build its economy as an island.

News / €80 billion for Poland new EU budget [166]

Question:


Answer:


By tying a "poor" country like Poland or Bulgaria into the EU, you commit it to buying EU products, and refusing Chinese or American imports. You want it to grow, to be wealthy, but only with your help and not with others. That way, as the poor country becomes rich, the old EU countries stay rich as well. And with clever laws and legislation, you stop 27 countries fighting with eachother all trying to be best at everything, and you make each country do one thing well. France, you make the wine. Germany, you make the cars. UK, sell everyone a credit card. Denmark, make bacon. Poland... well, we'll see.

News / €80 billion for Poland new EU budget [166]

I don't think it would be nothing, but it certainly wouldn't be self-sufficient. With telecoms (the "lame" example) there is simply no way any one state can build a home-grown network in the current technological environment. Telecoms work on protocols, protocols are covered by patents, and patents are owned by multinational firms. There's no way around that. I have no doubt that Polish students and engineers could devise and build the technology themselves, but as soon as they released it they'd be infringing existing patents and they'd be sued to oblivion. The money involved in that industry is staggering, and is best demonstrated in this article:

guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/jul/02/google-pi-auction-bid

When you have Apple and Microsoft coming together as a consortium to outbid Google for patents, you have an idea of the sums involved; sums far higher than any WIG20 company could hope to spend on R&D.

I want Poland to grow, I want it to develop, and I want it to do so in a way that doesn't mimic how things are done in the West. But Poland simply does not have the chips to play the international business poker game; not without EU backing.

News / €80 billion for Poland new EU budget [166]


Indesit, Opel, Fiat, Orange, T-Mobile, Kapsch, Continental, Tesco. All exist in Poland creating thousands of jobs. Or maybe Poland should concentrate on trying to produce Polski Fiats with Debica tyres in the competitive international market instead? Or maybe you think Spolem could operate on the kind of scale that would keep food prices low enough for the poorest. Or we'll build our own mobile phone networks, with tin cans and string.

There's an economy of scale here. Poland is a large country, both geographically and demographically, but not economically... not yet. But before you can grow your economy up to a point where everyone can live comfortably, healthily, with a good education and good prospects, you need a cash injection, and that's what the EU is for.

If you think Poland could just "find more money" then maybe you have some genius idea where from? 4% of GDP is a hell of a lot to pull out from under babcia's mattress. The cost of Poland's military is just under 2%, but I don't think you'd convince the voters to completely scrap the military structure and leave the nation utterly defenceless... would you?

News / €80 billion for Poland new EU budget [166]


Yes, Poland has money for SOME highways. Enough for 28% of them. But if the road from Warsaw to Berlin is a fixed length, which 28% do you build? Or Warsaw to Krakow, or Gdansk to Opole? Or should Poland decide which 28% of her citizens deserve government help (in the sense of improved infrastructure, better schools, more parks and libraries, farm subsidies, entrepreneurial grants - ALL things the EU subsidises) and the others can struggle on in poverty. Sorry Sanok, no new road for you; we only have enough money to pay for Suwalki, so all the South-East can carry on being unemployed because there are no industries down there (because there is no infrastructure to serve them).

Poland does NOT have the money to provide all those things for all its citizens. Maybe if it saved it could have them in 20 years time, and then Poland will be 20 years behind all the other countries, like it is now.

Of course the EU isn't doing this out of the kindness of its heart, but it's a win-win situation. Western states get a new market to sell their pointless stuff to, and Poland gets new industries, more jobs, and a better standard of living for the whole population, not just 28%.

News / €80 billion for Poland new EU budget [166]

It's the same way was a company thinking "if we fire all our workers we won't have any costs, so we'll make 100% profit!"

Without subsidies, how is a farmer supposed to plough his field with half a tractor? How do schools teach with only half a textbook, or with half a classroom? Do we only build half a power station to power half the factories half the time? Sure, with the end result that workers get, you guessed it, half their pay!

*slow clap*

News / €80 billion for Poland new EU budget [166]


This is one of the most astoundingly dense statements I've read in a long time. With that grasp of economics, no wonder you "think" Poland would be fine without the EU.

I suppose if we cut spending in half again, we'd all be in profit!

Whereas the reality is, for every zloty Poland puts into the EU, it gets 3.5zl back. So instead of 100km of highway, we'd only build 29km... which is really going to help.

Travel / Do you know any good english cabarets in Poland? [4]

In the Fifties and Sixties there were Variety Shows where the host (for example, Dean Martin) would mix humour and music, but without the darker satire that makes Cabaret cabaret.

After that, the music and the humour split, with Stand-Up comedians preferring not to sing, and Musicals preferring not to make too much social commentary. There are still musical bands that contain satire who describe themselves as Dark Cabaret; these include the Tiger Lillies and the Dresden Dolls. And then there are the musical comedians; for some reason people think Tim Minchin is funny.

But maybe the best example of English-language cabaret is the Muppet Show?

News / Stiffer traffic rules in Poland? [32]

Bulgaria has worse roads than Poland, and a lower road death rate.
Italy has worse driver behaviour, and a lower road death rate.
France has a higher rate of alcoholism, and a lower road death rate.
Romania has lower quality cars, and a lower road death rate.

The only conclusion is that Poland is bad at absolutely everything when it comes to driving. The skill and experience is poor, the cars are in bad condition, the laws are unenforced and the punishment too lenient. And yet every holiday weekend when another spate of crashes kills another hundred families, what do the Poles say? "Oh, it's these terrible roads, we need more EU money for highways".

The prime cause, the worst of all, is the indefensible attitude of Polish drivers that "it's not my fault". I know cars need to be kept cheap to allow working-class people access to transport, but not to the point where unsafe cars are driven with no insurance at too high a speed.

With the car, Poland is killing itself.

Travel / Going to Poland and looking for some antiques [24]

It's illegal to export any item made before 1945 from Poland without the right paperwork, but that all depends on how good you are at hiding broken watches, bent cutlery and candelabra in the back of your car. That's the sort of tatty ***** that's on offer at Kolo, priced ten times more than it's worth.

I used to enjoy walking around Kolo when I lived in that area, but there are no bargains to be had there.

News / Poland's Guy Fawkes [88]

And failing badly, since Norway isn't part of the EU

News / Poland's Guy Fawkes [88]



I did suggest to the newsroom that they run the line "Guy Fawkski" but it got vetoed...

Law / Can't get a social security number/PESEL in Poland (I'm from UK) [56]

It's not cynicism; it's some very weird wording of the law which means it's somehow illegal to ALLOW non-family people to live in your house rent-free. As the owner, I'm the only one who's allowed to register people in my property, and I have to provide an explanation of why they're there; hence the rental agreement.

Even as the owner (as Harry pointed out) I can only register myself for 5 years because I don't have a dowod osobisty, even though I do have a PESEL.

Maybe there's some sort of agency that registers you at their address for a small fee?

Law / Can't get a social security number/PESEL in Poland (I'm from UK) [56]

If you register yourself in someone else's flat you have to provide some sort of rental agreement. In my case, my girlfriend rents a room for a token sum a month, and I have to pay the tax on that to Urzad Skarbowy every month (17zl). But that way she's able to have her own company registered at the address, deduct flat bills from the company as an expense, and so on and so forth.

There really isn't a workaround for it, and it took me two years and two cars sent to the scrapyard before I was able to register my wheels legally. And despite Tusk's promises, it hasn't got any easier recently.

News / 2014-2020 EU Cohesion funds for Poland [11]

Most of the money gets lost; sucked back into the EU vacuum, and the main reason for Poland not receiving it is Poland itself. For every euro Poland receives, it has to spend an equivalent amount from its own budget (either 1:1, or a pre-determined ratio). A good example is the 5.5bn euros earmarked for rail infrastructure investment, of which only 303m was used. This may be due to mismanagement, corruption or downright fecklessness, but it will make it very hard for the "new ascension" states to defend their access to almost 15 billion euros of structural funds if they simply can't spend it.

For more info:

reuters.com/article/2012/06/21/us-europe-trains-idUSBRE85K0F620120621

UK, Ireland / British + Polish relationship experiences [16]

Wulkan, the OP asked for Brit-Pole relationship advice, and I'm prepared to give that. You may be one of the fine men who have cut themselves off from mother's apron strings, but there are plenty of Polish men who haven't, nor want to. I've seen enough of the fallout between wife and mother with a Polish man in the middle, which is why I offer my advice.

Maybe the OP will love being part of a wider Polish family, but if not then it will be a big factor in the future relationship.

Life / British living in Poland - documentary [42]

I moved to Warsaw 8 years ago, and I've seen some phenomenal changes in that time. It was just as the EU money taps were turned on, and the subsequent cash flood has changed the city remarkably.

And there's always a downside, as others have stated with their stories about the losers in the Capitalist race, and I do feel for those who have been left out in the cold by the conversion to a free market. But now we have new problems; an older workforce on very generous, privileged contracts (three months notice, 26 days leave plus national holidays on top etc.) holding on to their positions, with a large, educated youth underneath them who can't get their feet on the career ladder, or otherwise on pathetic pay with no job security or the smallest perk in their contract. 70% of 18-24s are on these "junk contracts", which is the current hot news item outside the usual conspiracy ravings.

Poland is caught between a rock and a hard place; on the one hand still making up for the faults of its Communist past, and on the other trying to find new opportunities for the next generation. And there's no EU subsidy for those kinds of problems.

UK, Ireland / British + Polish relationship experiences [16]

Some may say six months is a little too early to be thinking about marriage. But if you want to go ahead and commit with the aim of a long and happy future together, just ask yourself these questions; they apply to anyone in a relationship with a foreigner:

1) Where are we going to spend Christmas each year? How will our families feel about that?
2) In what country are we going to raise our kids? What support will we get from our families?
3) Am I prepared to relocate to my partner's country for work?
4) What will happen when our parents get old and sick?
5) How will we afford to keep moving between two countries? Am I prepared to sacrifice other luxuries (the summer holiday in the Mediterranean, for example) so that we can visit my partner's family?

These are the sorts of problems that cause friction in any relationship. But for your specific case, you must remember that when you marry a Pole you marry their whole family, especially the mother. Poles cherish their families, and if you keep mother's little boy away from her for too long, you will feel her wrath and your husband will be caught in the middle. That pressure has been known to end more than one relationship. Then there are the huge arguments because you want Christmas with your parents, but he wants Wigilia with his, which can explode out of all proportion if you haven't prepared yourself for it.

Any other things, like the wild drinking and the I-am-never-wrong arguments, are just Polish stereotypes and we've no reason to believe that your boyfriend is one of "those" sorts of men, so I can't comment. But the above questions should not be taken lightly.

UK, Ireland / Need Polish Dentist, Polish Cakemaker, Polish Hair Saloon (UK, Manchester area) [49]

Or maybe Polish clients miss the opportunity to gossip in their own language about celebrities and holidays, and this is a business who's cashing in on that service.

I know, I know Mr Hicks, you want to hear about Agnieszka Wlodarczyk's cellulite too, but you'll just have to translate pudelek.pl like the rest of us.

News / Poland's Ruch Narodowy - should it be banned? [62]


The Church is responsible for more blood, more destruction and the death of more culture than any "barbarion" horde.


The Americans banned the Communist party in 1954

Law / What kombi/estate car to buy in Poland? [7]

To mimic the thoughts of others, it's a choice of 1) or 3). Avoid any of the cheap-and-cheerful options, as they'll not only let you down when you need them most, but will also return very little money when it comes to sell them on.

An old 5-series BMW can soldier on for half a million km, but be wary of oily leaking turbos on the diesel versions; replacing those will bankrupt you. The same goes for the more powerful Audis. Anything with the old VW 1.9 TDi engine should be rock solid though, if you're looking at older cars.

As others have commented though, think twice before you buy in Poland.

Law / Buying an old car in Poland and bring it to Italy [3]

Depending on which border you cross, you may have to prove that you have paid the tax on the purchase contract. I don't know the legalities regarding foreigners paying this tax, but it's referred to as PCC and states that 2% needs to be paid on all sales contracts over 800PLN (or it was last time I bought an old car).

Life / Abrupt Poles explained ! [51]

Considered harsh by whom? The whole of humanity? You can't take a brush stroke and declare "all of humanity has declared the glottal stop ugly". That's ridiculous.

Where on earth are you pulling your "facts" from?

Life / Abrupt Poles explained ! [51]

Yes, shaped within a culture. You can't judge Polish by anything other than Polish cultural rules.

Etiquette and self-culture are faddish ideals, nothing more, just like the concept of beauty. Look at paintings of Eve over the last thousand years; she moves from a child with skinny limbs and a pot belly to a plumb woman with red-rimmed eyes; nothing like our 21st century version of beauty. Culture, politeness and etiquette similarly change. No painting of Eve has her with her head or face covered; that's intolerably crass from various Muslim perspectives, so should we claim all paintings of Eve to be vulgar? No, because there's no universal concept of politeness, or culture.

I myself can't stand French; the gag reflex is not a suitable replacement for the letter "r". But that doesn't stop a hundred and one million Westerners proclaiming French a "beautiful" language. It's all to your personal taste, and nothing more.

Life / Abrupt Poles explained ! [51]


It sounds rude and harsh from a Western perspective. It's not universally harsh, in the same way that French isn't universally romantic. There's nothing intrinsically rude about Polish, because there are no universal rules about manners or politeness, and certainly none that apply to how a language sounds.

We may say that German is an ugly language, but I'm fairly sure there's a Fritz out there who whispered sweet nothings to his Brunhilda, and she wasn't repulsed by glottal strangling of his speech. So I'm sorry, but your fact is nothing but.

Life / Abrupt Poles explained ! [51]


I can only point you to The Economist, which originally ran the guide in their print edition. Referenced here:

economist.com/node/3152907?story_id=3152907