The government has a new development strategy for Poland. The previous one is being scrapped.

• Security is not just about the army – the strategy assumes strengthening defense capabilities, but also the state's resilience to cyberattacks, health crises and natural disasters.
• Demography as a civilizational challenge – from supporting fertility to developing services for seniors, family policy should be multidimensional and not based solely on cash transfers.
• A new role for private business – half of the largest Polish companies are to be private, and innovations are to be financed not with subsidies for everyone, but with targeted loans and capital.
• The end of the "two-speed" Poland – development is to be based on a network of 78 cities, including medium-sized and smaller ones, which is to equalize the development opportunities of individual regions.

The Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy has submitted the Polish Development Strategy to 2035 for consultation. The document aims to redefine the country's development goals and serve as a foundation for negotiations with Brussels on the next EU budget. It is also intended to replace the 2017 "Morawiecki Plan," which – as practice has shown – remained largely on paper.

We need navigation in a stormy ocean

Funds Minister Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz makes no secret of the fact that adopting the strategy is not a matter of bureaucratic routine, but a necessity. " We are in a turbulent time where Poland must have a clear path. We need a document that will serve as strategic navigation—one that will show us which direction to sail. Without it, we are adrift, and we cannot afford it," she emphasized during the strategy presentation.

The new strategy differs from the previous one from 2017 primarily in that it is based on a diagnosis of contemporary challenges – the war in Ukraine, an aging population and global economic competition.

Three pillars: security, demographics and competitiveness

The document focuses on three main priorities. The first is security – not only military, but also energy, health, and digital. "Security is not just about the military. It's also about a state's resilience to cyberattacks, health crises, and natural disasters. A strong state is one that operates efficiently not only in peacetime but also in times of trial," says Jakub Sawulski, director of the Strategy Department at the Ministry of Finance and Development.

The second pillar is demographics. Poland is aging rapidly – ​​in the next decade, the number of people aged 75+ will increase by half. " Until now, family policy has been too one-dimensional. Cash transfers are important, but insufficient. A whole range of measures is needed – from housing policy, through better perinatal care, to the development of nurseries and public transport for older people," emphasizes Sawulski.

The third pillar is economic competitiveness. The government wants to finally prioritize private business, not just state-owned companies . "Under the Law and Justice (PiS) government, only one in four of the largest companies in Poland had domestic private capital. Our goal is for half of the 100 largest companies to be Polish and private by 2035. This cannot be achieved with subsidies for everyone—we need investment loans, capital injections, and real support for innovative technologies," Pełczyńska-Nałęcz emphasized.

Poland is polycentric, not metropolitan

Another major change is the approach to regional policy. The strategy focuses not on a "two-speed Poland" —Warsaw and a few metropolises versus the rest of the country—but on a network of 78 cities: from the largest to medium-sized and sub-regional. "We won't spread butter evenly across the bread. We must make difficult decisions and invest where development radiates throughout entire regions," says Minister Pełczyńska-Nałęcz.

This means support not only for Rzeszów, Lublin and Białystok, identified as aspiring metropolises, but also for dozens of smaller cities that can become local growth poles.

Europe and money from Brussels

The Polish Development Strategy until 2035 is intended to be not only an internal compass for the government, but also a strong bargaining chip in negotiations with the European Commission. Deputy Minister of Funds Jan Szyszko noted that we are only at the beginning of talks on the new EU budget after 2027. "We have at least a year and a half of very difficult negotiations ahead of us. According to our calculations, Poland could count on approximately €120 billion, which would make us the largest beneficiary of cohesion policy . However, the European Commission's proposal is revolutionary, and this is by no means a foregone conclusion," he emphasized.

A new addition to EU finances is the Competitiveness Fund. Its task will be to support European industry and companies in their competition with the US and China. The problem is that, as the minister noted, the definition of "competitiveness" has not yet been established. "Unofficially, we know that some member states would like the fund to primarily strengthen Europe's largest corporations and the wealthiest regions. This would be a disastrous scenario for Poland, as our companies and voivodeships would not be on the priority list," explains Szyszko.

Therefore, government representatives argue, the new strategy is intended to help Poland present a coherent and credible position . "We're not going to Brussels with empty slogans, but with a document that clearly outlines our goals and priorities. This strengthens our position because we can prove that our expectations are part of well-thought-out state policy, not a political whim," explained the deputy minister.

In these negotiations, Poland intends to fight for a broader understanding of competitiveness— not just as support for giants, but also as a stimulus for medium-sized and smaller companies and regions that are developing . "Europe will only be truly competitive if it allows new companies and new centers to grow. If we limit support to the largest players, we will lose the global competition from the very beginning," Szyszko warned.

In practice, this means that Poland will strive to ensure that funds from the Competitiveness Fund go to areas such as energy transformation, digital technologies and industrial innovation – but also to support the development of smaller urban centres, in line with the assumptions of the new strategy.

What's next?

Public consultations will last until the end of October. The strategy is expected to be adopted this year. The question remains whether it will truly become one of the most important documents defining how to reshape Poland's position within the EU and internationally.

The Ministry of Funds emphasizes that the strategy is not a document "set in stone." It is to be subject to annual evaluation and review. "No genius can predict a decade ahead. Especially in today's realities, we must assume flexibility. That's why we've built into the document a mechanism for annual evaluation and adjustments. This is meant to be a living strategy—responsive to changing conditions, not a locked file on a shelf," emphasizes Jakub Sawulski.

The government wants to create an annual strategic diagnosis, a review of key indicators and actions, along with any necessary plan adjustments. "This is the only way to ensure that the strategy doesn't become a dead document. It must respond to reality, and reality is changing faster than ever," Sawulski concludes.