Good trade relations for 20 years

 Poland is relatively well dealing with the situation during a pandemic period,

- noted Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin at a meeting with the President of the German Bundestag, Wolfgang Schäuble.  One of the reasons for this good economic situation was foreign demand, he added. 

Germany plays an important role in this context. Despite the difficult external conditions caused by the pandemic, we are pleased to see good results of mutual trade,

- said deputy prime minister.

The Federal Republic of Germany has been Poland’s major trading partner for 20 years. Germany’s share in the overall Polish exports amounted to almost 28% in 2019 and in imports to almost 22%.

Poland - third exporter of goods to Germany

During his meeting with Peter Altmaier, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Deputy Prime Minister J. Gowin pointed out that, despite the coronavirus pandemic, Poland is reporting good results of mutual trade.

In November, Poland became the third largest exporter of goods to Germany after China and the Netherlands. Imports from Poland accounted for 6.1% of total German imports in this month,

- said Deputy Prime Minister Gowin.

Deputy prime minister also proposed the establishment of a bilateral task force (working group) that would focus on barriers in the single market.

We believe that a task force - made up of representatives from Poland and Germany - will be able to well identify the barriers faced by Polish entrepreneurs in Germany and by German entrepreneurs in Poland. Such cooperation would help to clarify doubts and find compromises and solutions for all our entrepreneurs,

- he said.

Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEIs) - hydrogen, batteries, microelectronics

The agenda of the Polish delegation’s visit to Berlin could not miss the issue of IPCEI. Polish experience with initiatives related to  batteries point to the very high potential of IPCEI resulting from the cooperation of many groups – companies, universities, Member States and the EC. Today Poland is a member of the Polish-German project concerning the development of anodic materials for future European producers of lithium-ion cell batteries. We are also carrying out in this sector two projects with France and one with Belgium.

At the turn of January and February, we are also planning to launch an official call for IPCEI hydrogen projects. Without the large-scale use of hydrogen, we will not achieve climate neutrality in a fair manner. Its application is very important in the energy, transport and industry sectors,

- highlighted Deputy Prime Minister Gowin.

He also added:

In order to ensure Europe's technological sovereignty and competitiveness, as well as its ability to address key environmental and social challenges and emerging mass markets, it is essential to strengthen European cooperation in the area of microelectronics, in particular the capacity to develop and produce a new generation of processors and semiconductors. We are more than open to joint projects between Polish and German companies in this area.

Green Deal - a need for a change in the approach to energy-intensive industries

 On what concerns the energy transition, it will be important for the European Commission to consider public aid for zero-carbon sources, which also means nuclear energy, as acceptable,

- said Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin.

He also believes that it is necessary to change the approach to energy-intensive industries - they should be able to undergo a climate transformation in order to avoid carbon leakage. Energy-intensive industries should be supported by integrating these sectors into the regional aid scheme and allowing them to benefit from investment aid.

35 billion euros for German investments in Poland

Deputy Prime Minister J. Gowin met in Berlin representatives of German business organisations. German capital investments in Poland currently amount to 35 billion euros and represent about 19% of total foreign investments. Companies with German capital employ more than 361,000 employees in Poland.

We see that German companies see opportunities for growth based on the development of their capacity in Poland,

- said the deputy prime minister.

In the period 2016-2020, companies from Germany were authorised or chosen to support 150 investment projects (which remain active), for a total declared value of PLN 11,162 million, and reflecting 6,132 declared new jobs. This result puts the companies with the dominant German capital on the second place, after the companies with Polish capital, in the number of projects (10.2% share), the value of investments (16.7%) and the creation of new jobs (15.9%).