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Today, the industry ministers are meeting at the Competitiveness Council in Brussels. Germany will be represented for the first time by BMWK State Secretary Bernhard Kluttig, who took over from Sven Giegold two weeks ago.
At today’s meeting, the ministers want to agree on a joint declaration on European competitiveness in response to the Draghi report. Perhaps they will still have to bend over the paper themselves, as the ambassadors were not yet able to agree on a text for the declaration yesterday evening.
Otherwise, the agenda reads like a list of the current problems facing the European economy: It deals with the regulatory burden, the situation in the automotive industry and – due to the insolvency of Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt – the state of European battery production.
The discussion point on the battery industry was introduced by Sweden, supported by Germany and France. In an information note to the Council, which is available to Table.Briefings, the three member states warn that European manufacturers are facing “serious challenges”. The fact that global competition is not based on a level playing field is particularly difficult, according to the note, which does not explicitly mention Northvolt or China.
“We need to send a strong signal that we stand behind our agreed efforts to secure a competitive and sustainable battery supply chain in Europe,” the three member states wrote. For the time being, however, the Council will not make any decisions on this. According to several diplomats, the aim is rather to persuade the new Commission to tackle the problems of the battery industry as a matter of priority.
Have a nice day with full batteries!
The second Von der Leyen Commission was elected with 370 out of 688 votes cast. There were 282 votes against and 36 abstentions. The College therefore received 88 more votes than it needed to be confirmed. In 2019, the College had received 401 votes in favor. Without the votes of the ECR (33) and the Greens (27), the Commission would not have had a majority this time.
Ursula von der Leyen briefly introduced the 26 commissioners and their tasks before the vote. She said: “War is raging on Europe’s borders – and we must be prepared for what lies ahead, hand in hand with NATO.” The Europeans knew that they had to do much more. One figure illustrates this: “Russia spends up to nine percent of its economic output on defense. Europe spends an average of 1.9 percent.” The imbalance is a problem and Europe must be prepared to spend more money on defense.
In the debate, EPP leader Manfred Weber thanked group leaders Iratxe García Pérez (S&D), Válerie Hayer (Renew), Terry Reintke and Bas Eickhout (Greens) for their “constructive approach” to the Commissioners’ hearings. Weber also thanked ECR Co-President Nicola Procaccini and emphasized that the ECR Group supported the Commissioners during the hearings and ensured the necessary two-thirds majorities. “We have different ideas, we fight for our convictions, but we all want to find compromises and serve the Europeans.”
With regard to the hearings, S&D Group leader García spoke of “parties that were so irresponsible and wanted to destabilize the Commission”. The Spaniard appealed to Weber and von der Leyen: “Stop whitewashing the far-right. Stand by your European tradition and your commitment to the pro-European majority.”
Renew Group leader Hayer spoke of “two majorities that can exist in this Parliament”. She was referring to majorities of the EPP with the ECR and the votes of the radical right-wing groups on the one hand and the informal pro-European coalition of the EPP, S&D and Renew on the other. Hayer said of the majority of the EPP with the right-wing groups: “It will do a lot of damage to the democrats.” This is directed against Europe. In contrast, there is “the only majority that counts”, the one that created the recovery plan, the Green Deal, Schengen and the euro. “That is the central majority, the pro-Europeans.”
Terry Reintke from the Greens said: “The European Parliament has self-deprecated itself in recent weeks. With an undignified process of hearings that was not about quality but about power poker.” He continued: “The EPP is showing more and more openly that it wants to keep cooperation with the far right open.” This is becoming a danger for the entire European project. Because the Greens care about Europe, they negotiated to the end and received important promises from the Commission President.
Procaccini from the ECR thanked von der Leyen: “You resisted the pressure from the left with dignity and courage.” The defeat of the parties to the left of the EPP in the European elections was reflected in the composition of the Parliament. “The dominance of the center-left has been broken.” However, there is also no center-right majority in the House – because there is no obligation to form a majority coalition.
The EPP voted unanimously in favor – with the exception of the Spanish delegation and three out of four Slovenians, who all voted against. There were two abstentions.
The S&D Group delivered 77 yes votes. 25 votes were cast against. No German SPD MEP voted in favor of the Commission. Udo Bullmann, Maria Noichl, Sabrina Repp and Birgit Sippel voted no, and eight others abstained. René Repasi, leader of the SPD MEPs, justified the no vote with the “cuddle course” of EPP group leader Weber with far-right parties: “The developments on the conservative side towards changing, questionable, instead of stable and constructive majorities has damaged the basis of trust for us, which would have been necessary for an approval of this Commission.”
There were no “no” votes for Renew, with six abstentions. 27 Greens voted in favor of the college. Including almost all German MEPs. Only Rasmus Andresen, Daniel Freund and Katrin Langensiepen abstained. Sven Giegold, Vice-President of the Green Party in Germany and responsible for Europe, said: “We would also prefer to work only with democratic pro-Europeans. But the reality is different. Anyone who refuses to work constructively in the EU institutions is not doing Europe any favors.”
In the ECR, 33 MEPs voted yes, mainly the Italian delegation. The Polish delegation in particular voted against. The parliamentary groups of the left, the far-right “Patriots” and the European Sovereign Nations voted unanimously against the College.
The first annual risk assessment and audit reports of the Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and search engines (VLOSEs) under the Digital Services Act (DSA) are available. The 19 very large platforms and search engines that the Commission designated first in April 2023 have been requested to do so.
The Commission does not (yet) have an overview of the reports. However, digital expert Alexander Hohlfeld has compiled one. The following companies have made a start and published the reports on their websites:
The designated platforms are obliged to identify potential risks that their services may pose to society, public safety, and fundamental rights. They should then mitigate these risks with suitable measures. The risks to be considered include in particular
Overall, the DSA entails a whole range of reporting obligations for the services concerned (see chart).
At the beginning of next year, the Commission intends to hold workshops to develop best practices and harmonize the quality of risk assessments. So far, reports have turned out very differently. Here are a few examples:
Although Apple argues that only the iOS app store fulfills the criteria of a VLOP, it has nevertheless applied the requirements to all app store platforms. Apple identified the distribution of illegal content as a key risk. Apple paid particular attention to the algorithms of the recommendation mechanisms, their transparency, and their susceptibility to manipulation. Despite the protective measures already implemented, the report highlights weaknesses in the systematic risk assessment.
An audit by EY revealed that Apple has fulfilled many of the DSA’s requirements, but has only achieved partial success in some areas. It was particularly noticeable that although non-compliant apps have been removed since May 2024, a full validation system for new developers will not be fully implemented until February 2025. The auditors also recommended, for example, that data monitoring for ad placements be made more granular in order to identify potential vulnerabilities at an early stage.
In its risk analysis, Microsoft identifies that Bing may distribute illegal content via search results, including hate speech and content that endangers children. The generative AI functions also harbor the risk of creating “hallucinations” – i.e. generating false or misleading information. There are also challenges for Bing when it comes to protecting personal data, although the platform considers its use of personal information to be limited.
The auditors from Deloitte rate Bing’s security mechanisms and control systems as largely positive. They praised the protective measures for generative AI in particular as effective. At the same time, they criticized the inadequate documentation of some transparency measures. They also note that Microsoft has further room for improvement when it comes to monitoring data flows. The auditors identified algorithmic distortions as the biggest security challenge. Microsoft must ensure that Bing does not prioritize harmful content and does not inadmissibly restrict access to relevant information.
Zalando also believes it has been wrongly classified as a VLOP and is taking legal action against this. The company considers the systemic risks such as the distribution of illegal content or negative effects on fundamental rights on its platform to be very low. It attributes this to the fact that the platform offers a highly curated range and the content is subject to strict controls. The company also points to its fast procedure for removing illegal content. Users can report any infringements directly via the “Notice and Action” system, which significantly shortens the response time.
Deloitte’s audit report, on the other hand, came to a negative overall assessment, although Zalando had fulfilled many of the DSA’s obligations. The assessment is based on the strict criteria of the DSA, according to which even partial non-compliance in one area leads to a negative overall assessment. Out of a total of 95 DSA obligations examined, Zalando only partially fulfilled five obligations. These include incomplete processes and a lack of standardization in the transparency reports as well as the lack of clear timelines and precise documentation in the notice-and-action mechanisms.
Unsurprisingly, Elon Musk‘s platform X recognizes the greatest challenges in the dissemination of illegal content and the associated risks to fundamental rights, democratic processes, and public safety. X sees particular risks in the misuse of the platform, for example through the spread of hate speech, disinformation, or the influencing of elections. The company assesses the effectiveness of existing control measures as sufficient to reduce many risks. However, it recognizes that certain risks, such as targeted manipulation and algorithmically amplified content, continue to exist and remain critical.
The auditors from FTI Consulting generally assess X’s efforts as progress towards compliance with the DSA. They see the development of a risk management framework, the introduction of transparency measures, and the first steps towards better content moderation as positive. These measures show that X is taking the regulatory requirements seriously.
Critically, however, the auditors note that X falls short of the requirements in key areas such as the transparency of algorithmic decisions and the consistent application of moderation guidelines. In particular, the unclear and fragmented presentation of important information and the unequal treatment of prominent and regular users represented significant shortcomings. “The overall verdict of this audit is negative because according to the EU regulation, non-compliance with even a single obligation is grounds for a negative conclusion,” concludes FTI Consulting.
Since 2021, 41-year-old Nawrocki has headed the state-run Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), which researches the crimes of the Nazis during the Second World War and the communists in the People’s Republic and preserves archive documents from this period. After his nomination in Krakow, Nawrocki said pompously: “Poland is my great love, that’s why I’m ready to become president.”
Nawrocki is officially non-partisan, but his worldview coincides with that of the PiS party: the candidate is fiercely anti-communist, ultra-patriotic, and conservative Christian, opposes the relaxation of the ban on abortion, and admires US President-elect Donald Trump. He demands reparations from Germany for World War II – preferably to the tune of €1,300 billion. This sum has been calculated by a PiS expert commission. On his agenda: The government in Kyiv must exhume the Polish victims of massacres by Ukrainian nationalists in Volhynia in 1940 as a precondition for EU accession – and apologize for the crimes.
As a teenager, Nawrocki played soccer in a club, then switched to the boxing ring. While studying history, he worked as a doorman at the Hotel Grand in Sopot. During this time, he is said to have had good contacts with the red-light district: It is said that he provided female escorts at the request of guests. As head of the IPN, he had to justify himself in September because of his contacts with a convicted member of a pimp gang who posted photos of their meeting. The historian explained that he knew the criminal from boxing training in his youth.
Nawrocki has no experience in politics; he has neither held nor run for office. But as director of the Museum of the Second World War in his native city of Gdansk, he has repeatedly intervened in politics. He was one of the fiercest critics of the liberal mayor of Gdansk, Paweł Adamowicz, who was stabbed to death by an onlooker during a public appearance in 2019.
As museum director, Nawrocki was criticized. He made unauthorized changes to the exhibition, which his employees described as a “violation of copyright”. One of them, Mariusz Wójtowicz-Podhorski, says of his former boss: Nawrocki is a man “who does everything for his own image”, he is “an intriguer” and “capable of anything”.
PiS chairman Jarosław Kaczyński is taking a risk with the appointment of Nawrocki. After all, the historian is not a household name for most Poles. His name recognition is just 39 percent. However, Kaczyński considers this to be an advantage, as he believes that Polish voters are tired of their politicians. The PiS leader is hoping to copy the success of 2015, when he put up the unknown lawyer Andrzej Duda as a candidate and won the election against the highly favored Bronisław Komorowski from the Civic Platform.
However, it will not be an easy election campaign, as PiS is suffering from financial problems. The party was stripped of its state subsidy due to campaign finance violations in the parliamentary elections in 2023. However, campaigning for an unknown candidate requires high investments in advertising and marketing.
The significance of next year’s presidential election is enormous. This is because the president has significantly more power in Poland than in Germany and can block laws. That is why, one year after taking office, the government of liberal Donald Tusk has still not succeeded in fully restoring the rule of law and freeing the courts from PiS influence. The previous president Andrzej Duda, a puppet of Kaczyński, is not allowing the PiS state to be reversed.
However, the decision in favor of Nawrocki as a candidate could also lead to tensions within the party. Several leading politicians from the conservative camp had hoped to be nominated by PiS for the battle for the highest office in the state. It is above all a defeat for Mateusz Morawiecki, who was Prime Minister for six years. However, former education minister Przemysław Czarnek, who many already see as Kaczyński’s heir, is also likely to be disappointed.
Historian Nawrocki will run against Rafał Trzaskowski, the candidate of Donald Tusk’s citizens’ coalition. The liberal Trzaskowski has been mayor of Warsaw since 2017 and only narrowly lost to Duda five years ago. His chances are much better this time. Andrzej Rybak
Today, the industry ministers are meeting at the Competitiveness Council in Brussels. Germany will be represented for the first time by BMWK State Secretary Bernhard Kluttig, who took over from Sven Giegold two weeks ago.
At today’s meeting, the ministers want to agree on a joint declaration on European competitiveness in response to the Draghi report. Perhaps they will still have to bend over the paper themselves, as the ambassadors were not yet able to agree on a text for the declaration yesterday evening.
Otherwise, the agenda reads like a list of the current problems facing the European economy: It deals with the regulatory burden, the situation in the automotive industry and – due to the insolvency of Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt – the state of European battery production.
The discussion point on the battery industry was introduced by Sweden, supported by Germany and France. In an information note to the Council, which is available to Table.Briefings, the three member states warn that European manufacturers are facing “serious challenges”. The fact that global competition is not based on a level playing field is particularly difficult, according to the note, which does not explicitly mention Northvolt or China.
“We need to send a strong signal that we stand behind our agreed efforts to secure a competitive and sustainable battery supply chain in Europe,” the three member states wrote. For the time being, however, the Council will not make any decisions on this. According to several diplomats, the aim is rather to persuade the new Commission to tackle the problems of the battery industry as a matter of priority.
Have a nice day with full batteries!
The second Von der Leyen Commission was elected with 370 out of 688 votes cast. There were 282 votes against and 36 abstentions. The College therefore received 88 more votes than it needed to be confirmed. In 2019, the College had received 401 votes in favor. Without the votes of the ECR (33) and the Greens (27), the Commission would not have had a majority this time.
Ursula von der Leyen briefly introduced the 26 commissioners and their tasks before the vote. She said: “War is raging on Europe’s borders – and we must be prepared for what lies ahead, hand in hand with NATO.” The Europeans knew that they had to do much more. One figure illustrates this: “Russia spends up to nine percent of its economic output on defense. Europe spends an average of 1.9 percent.” The imbalance is a problem and Europe must be prepared to spend more money on defense.
In the debate, EPP leader Manfred Weber thanked group leaders Iratxe García Pérez (S&D), Válerie Hayer (Renew), Terry Reintke and Bas Eickhout (Greens) for their “constructive approach” to the Commissioners’ hearings. Weber also thanked ECR Co-President Nicola Procaccini and emphasized that the ECR Group supported the Commissioners during the hearings and ensured the necessary two-thirds majorities. “We have different ideas, we fight for our convictions, but we all want to find compromises and serve the Europeans.”
With regard to the hearings, S&D Group leader García spoke of “parties that were so irresponsible and wanted to destabilize the Commission”. The Spaniard appealed to Weber and von der Leyen: “Stop whitewashing the far-right. Stand by your European tradition and your commitment to the pro-European majority.”
Renew Group leader Hayer spoke of “two majorities that can exist in this Parliament”. She was referring to majorities of the EPP with the ECR and the votes of the radical right-wing groups on the one hand and the informal pro-European coalition of the EPP, S&D and Renew on the other. Hayer said of the majority of the EPP with the right-wing groups: “It will do a lot of damage to the democrats.” This is directed against Europe. In contrast, there is “the only majority that counts”, the one that created the recovery plan, the Green Deal, Schengen and the euro. “That is the central majority, the pro-Europeans.”
Terry Reintke from the Greens said: “The European Parliament has self-deprecated itself in recent weeks. With an undignified process of hearings that was not about quality but about power poker.” He continued: “The EPP is showing more and more openly that it wants to keep cooperation with the far right open.” This is becoming a danger for the entire European project. Because the Greens care about Europe, they negotiated to the end and received important promises from the Commission President.
Procaccini from the ECR thanked von der Leyen: “You resisted the pressure from the left with dignity and courage.” The defeat of the parties to the left of the EPP in the European elections was reflected in the composition of the Parliament. “The dominance of the center-left has been broken.” However, there is also no center-right majority in the House – because there is no obligation to form a majority coalition.
The EPP voted unanimously in favor – with the exception of the Spanish delegation and three out of four Slovenians, who all voted against. There were two abstentions.
The S&D Group delivered 77 yes votes. 25 votes were cast against. No German SPD MEP voted in favor of the Commission. Udo Bullmann, Maria Noichl, Sabrina Repp and Birgit Sippel voted no, and eight others abstained. René Repasi, leader of the SPD MEPs, justified the no vote with the “cuddle course” of EPP group leader Weber with far-right parties: “The developments on the conservative side towards changing, questionable, instead of stable and constructive majorities has damaged the basis of trust for us, which would have been necessary for an approval of this Commission.”
There were no “no” votes for Renew, with six abstentions. 27 Greens voted in favor of the college. Including almost all German MEPs. Only Rasmus Andresen, Daniel Freund and Katrin Langensiepen abstained. Sven Giegold, Vice-President of the Green Party in Germany and responsible for Europe, said: “We would also prefer to work only with democratic pro-Europeans. But the reality is different. Anyone who refuses to work constructively in the EU institutions is not doing Europe any favors.”
In the ECR, 33 MEPs voted yes, mainly the Italian delegation. The Polish delegation in particular voted against. The parliamentary groups of the left, the far-right “Patriots” and the European Sovereign Nations voted unanimously against the College.
The first annual risk assessment and audit reports of the Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and search engines (VLOSEs) under the Digital Services Act (DSA) are available. The 19 very large platforms and search engines that the Commission designated first in April 2023 have been requested to do so.
The Commission does not (yet) have an overview of the reports. However, digital expert Alexander Hohlfeld has compiled one. The following companies have made a start and published the reports on their websites:
The designated platforms are obliged to identify potential risks that their services may pose to society, public safety, and fundamental rights. They should then mitigate these risks with suitable measures. The risks to be considered include in particular
Overall, the DSA entails a whole range of reporting obligations for the services concerned (see chart).
At the beginning of next year, the Commission intends to hold workshops to develop best practices and harmonize the quality of risk assessments. So far, reports have turned out very differently. Here are a few examples:
Although Apple argues that only the iOS app store fulfills the criteria of a VLOP, it has nevertheless applied the requirements to all app store platforms. Apple identified the distribution of illegal content as a key risk. Apple paid particular attention to the algorithms of the recommendation mechanisms, their transparency, and their susceptibility to manipulation. Despite the protective measures already implemented, the report highlights weaknesses in the systematic risk assessment.
An audit by EY revealed that Apple has fulfilled many of the DSA’s requirements, but has only achieved partial success in some areas. It was particularly noticeable that although non-compliant apps have been removed since May 2024, a full validation system for new developers will not be fully implemented until February 2025. The auditors also recommended, for example, that data monitoring for ad placements be made more granular in order to identify potential vulnerabilities at an early stage.
In its risk analysis, Microsoft identifies that Bing may distribute illegal content via search results, including hate speech and content that endangers children. The generative AI functions also harbor the risk of creating “hallucinations” – i.e. generating false or misleading information. There are also challenges for Bing when it comes to protecting personal data, although the platform considers its use of personal information to be limited.
The auditors from Deloitte rate Bing’s security mechanisms and control systems as largely positive. They praised the protective measures for generative AI in particular as effective. At the same time, they criticized the inadequate documentation of some transparency measures. They also note that Microsoft has further room for improvement when it comes to monitoring data flows. The auditors identified algorithmic distortions as the biggest security challenge. Microsoft must ensure that Bing does not prioritize harmful content and does not inadmissibly restrict access to relevant information.
Zalando also believes it has been wrongly classified as a VLOP and is taking legal action against this. The company considers the systemic risks such as the distribution of illegal content or negative effects on fundamental rights on its platform to be very low. It attributes this to the fact that the platform offers a highly curated range and the content is subject to strict controls. The company also points to its fast procedure for removing illegal content. Users can report any infringements directly via the “Notice and Action” system, which significantly shortens the response time.
Deloitte’s audit report, on the other hand, came to a negative overall assessment, although Zalando had fulfilled many of the DSA’s obligations. The assessment is based on the strict criteria of the DSA, according to which even partial non-compliance in one area leads to a negative overall assessment. Out of a total of 95 DSA obligations examined, Zalando only partially fulfilled five obligations. These include incomplete processes and a lack of standardization in the transparency reports as well as the lack of clear timelines and precise documentation in the notice-and-action mechanisms.
Unsurprisingly, Elon Musk‘s platform X recognizes the greatest challenges in the dissemination of illegal content and the associated risks to fundamental rights, democratic processes, and public safety. X sees particular risks in the misuse of the platform, for example through the spread of hate speech, disinformation, or the influencing of elections. The company assesses the effectiveness of existing control measures as sufficient to reduce many risks. However, it recognizes that certain risks, such as targeted manipulation and algorithmically amplified content, continue to exist and remain critical.
The auditors from FTI Consulting generally assess X’s efforts as progress towards compliance with the DSA. They see the development of a risk management framework, the introduction of transparency measures, and the first steps towards better content moderation as positive. These measures show that X is taking the regulatory requirements seriously.
Critically, however, the auditors note that X falls short of the requirements in key areas such as the transparency of algorithmic decisions and the consistent application of moderation guidelines. In particular, the unclear and fragmented presentation of important information and the unequal treatment of prominent and regular users represented significant shortcomings. “The overall verdict of this audit is negative because according to the EU regulation, non-compliance with even a single obligation is grounds for a negative conclusion,” concludes FTI Consulting.
Since 2021, 41-year-old Nawrocki has headed the state-run Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), which researches the crimes of the Nazis during the Second World War and the communists in the People’s Republic and preserves archive documents from this period. After his nomination in Krakow, Nawrocki said pompously: “Poland is my great love, that’s why I’m ready to become president.”
Nawrocki is officially non-partisan, but his worldview coincides with that of the PiS party: the candidate is fiercely anti-communist, ultra-patriotic, and conservative Christian, opposes the relaxation of the ban on abortion, and admires US President-elect Donald Trump. He demands reparations from Germany for World War II – preferably to the tune of €1,300 billion. This sum has been calculated by a PiS expert commission. On his agenda: The government in Kyiv must exhume the Polish victims of massacres by Ukrainian nationalists in Volhynia in 1940 as a precondition for EU accession – and apologize for the crimes.
As a teenager, Nawrocki played soccer in a club, then switched to the boxing ring. While studying history, he worked as a doorman at the Hotel Grand in Sopot. During this time, he is said to have had good contacts with the red-light district: It is said that he provided female escorts at the request of guests. As head of the IPN, he had to justify himself in September because of his contacts with a convicted member of a pimp gang who posted photos of their meeting. The historian explained that he knew the criminal from boxing training in his youth.
Nawrocki has no experience in politics; he has neither held nor run for office. But as director of the Museum of the Second World War in his native city of Gdansk, he has repeatedly intervened in politics. He was one of the fiercest critics of the liberal mayor of Gdansk, Paweł Adamowicz, who was stabbed to death by an onlooker during a public appearance in 2019.
As museum director, Nawrocki was criticized. He made unauthorized changes to the exhibition, which his employees described as a “violation of copyright”. One of them, Mariusz Wójtowicz-Podhorski, says of his former boss: Nawrocki is a man “who does everything for his own image”, he is “an intriguer” and “capable of anything”.
PiS chairman Jarosław Kaczyński is taking a risk with the appointment of Nawrocki. After all, the historian is not a household name for most Poles. His name recognition is just 39 percent. However, Kaczyński considers this to be an advantage, as he believes that Polish voters are tired of their politicians. The PiS leader is hoping to copy the success of 2015, when he put up the unknown lawyer Andrzej Duda as a candidate and won the election against the highly favored Bronisław Komorowski from the Civic Platform.
However, it will not be an easy election campaign, as PiS is suffering from financial problems. The party was stripped of its state subsidy due to campaign finance violations in the parliamentary elections in 2023. However, campaigning for an unknown candidate requires high investments in advertising and marketing.
The significance of next year’s presidential election is enormous. This is because the president has significantly more power in Poland than in Germany and can block laws. That is why, one year after taking office, the government of liberal Donald Tusk has still not succeeded in fully restoring the rule of law and freeing the courts from PiS influence. The previous president Andrzej Duda, a puppet of Kaczyński, is not allowing the PiS state to be reversed.
However, the decision in favor of Nawrocki as a candidate could also lead to tensions within the party. Several leading politicians from the conservative camp had hoped to be nominated by PiS for the battle for the highest office in the state. It is above all a defeat for Mateusz Morawiecki, who was Prime Minister for six years. However, former education minister Przemysław Czarnek, who many already see as Kaczyński’s heir, is also likely to be disappointed.
Historian Nawrocki will run against Rafał Trzaskowski, the candidate of Donald Tusk’s citizens’ coalition. The liberal Trzaskowski has been mayor of Warsaw since 2017 and only narrowly lost to Duda five years ago. His chances are much better this time. Andrzej Rybak