- I've been saying this for years! The ETS system should be suspended! - wrote Mateusz Morawiecki on social media, publishing an infographic.

- In the case of services subordinate to the Ministry of Interior and Administration, there is a significant problem. There is a significant problem because we now have to find a tool that will allow these funds [from SAFE] to be used for Polish security, and this will not be a simple matter - said Marcin Kierwiński during a meeting of the Sejm's Committee on Administration and Internal Affairs.

- The irresponsible decision of Mr. President has led to the fact that it will truly require a great deal of effort, a great deal of work, a great deal of additional costs to find the right mechanism to benefit from these funds - he continued.

- To be clear, I am reassuring everyone here, we will find this mechanism - he went on to say.

- Instead of solving real problems today and proceeding with purchases, these essential purchases, we must waste time circumventing, and I am deliberately using this word, circumventing the unreasonable veto of Mr. President - he added.

- Frankly, it's also incomprehensible to me that the commander-in-chief could make such a decision. That President Nawrocki, in such a symbolic way, decided to disarm Polish officers - said Marcin Kierwiński during a meeting of the Sejm's Committee on Administration and Internal Affairs.

- The security of these people, who guard our safety every day, should be some kind of foundation. How many times do we hear, how many times does everyone repeat the phrase 'wall behind the Polish uniform'? So how can we be more of a 'wall behind the Polish uniform' if we don't give money to these people who are defending our security, so that they can safely carry out their service? - said Marcin Kierwiński during a meeting of the Sejm's Committee on Administration and Internal Affairs.

- This rhetoric, primarily from Mr. Czarnek, but a moment earlier we saw tweets from Jarosław Kaczyński and Mr. Błaszczak, is directly preparing public opinion for the entire propaganda related to Polexit. We saw exactly the same thing in 2015 and 2016 in Great Britain - stated Adam Szłapka at a press conference.

- Let us not shy away from this word, [Mariusz Błaszczak] is rambling about the German SAFE loan and some illegal foundations. Firstly, once again, Mr. Minister, the "Polska Zbrojna" (Armed Poland) program is a modernization program for the Polish army, it increases security and the development of the Polish defense industry. In the part that will be implemented by Poland, almost 90% will be produced in Poland, and please take your anti-German phobias elsewhere - stated Adam Szłapka at a press conference.

"There is no doubt that we are dealing with a political idea. The goal is to deprive the Polish state, to deprive all of us of control over public finances, to push Poland into the Eurozone," said Mariusz Błaszczak at a press conference.

"Soon, the EU decision-makers, the EU oligarchs, will say that perhaps they will forgive us part of these debts, but we must enter the Eurozone," he continued.

"And what is most significant in all of this, in this political undertaking that is the 3% SAFE loan, is making Poland dependent on decisions made outside our country's borders," he went on to say.

- In such a dramatic situation, what should a sensible government do? It should find alternative sources of funding, not indebt Poland for billions more, this time in euros. And what is Donald Tusk doing? He is trying to force through a loan, one could say it's a Brussels scam or a German payday loan - Mariusz Błaszczak said at a press conference.

- It's about SAFE 3%. We must not agree to this - he continued.

- This situation [of the state's finances] is dramatic. The data presented shows that over two months, January and February of this year, the public finance deficit reached a record high of almost 50 billion zlotys. This is a tragedy - Mariusz Błaszczak said at a press conference.

- If we add to this the public finance deficit from last year and the year before, we get a clear picture that Donald Tusk's government either cannot or does not want to manage public finances properly. I put forward the thesis that it neither can nor wants to - he continued.

- I exchanged a few words with Prime Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz regarding SAFE, and I have very good news; there will be no problems concerning our partners. Everyone understands what happened in Poland. The SAFE program, the Polish Armed program, and the loan within the SAFE project will be implemented, and these loans will flow to Poland - said Prime Minister Donald Tusk during a government meeting.

- I thank the Prime Minister for his work in swiftly resolving this unnecessary crisis, provoked by the stance of the President and the opposition - he continued.

- This is anti-human, anti-social madness, and that is why I am very grateful to “Solidarność” [Solidarity], which approached the matter very substantively, and in conjunction with them, we will be able to fight the Brussels leftist ideology together and achieve Poland’s exit from the ETS system altogether. This is achievable, it is possible, which is why we call on Tusk, without particularly holding out hope that he will do it, but we will do it as soon as we come to power - stated Przemysław Czarnek at a press conference.

- I have already submitted, along with the PiS parliamentary group, a draft resolution to the Marshal's office, a draft resolution calling on Donald Tusk to take all necessary actions, including in particular the publication of the Constitutional Tribunal's ruling from June 10, 2025, necessary actions to withdraw Poland from the ETS - stated Przemysław Czarnek at a press conference.

- Not from the EU, because Tusk wants to withdraw from something, from the interests of the Polish state, it's a Tusk-exit, not a Polexit, but a withdrawal from this nastiness, which is called the ETS. This nastiness causes us to have the most expensive electricity prices in the EU today, the fastest growing, but this nastiness of the ETS also causes us to have gigantic costs for district heating in the rents of all residents of apartment blocks in Poland - he continued.

- Tomorrow in Gdańsk at Power Connect, which is a large energy-focused meeting, together with Minister Motyka and Minister Balczun, we will be presenting [...] the Polish government's stance on the future of energy in Poland - said Prime Minister Donald Tusk during a government session.

- Regarding so-called 'RES-BES' (Renewable Energy Sources - a dismissive colloquialism), a quote from our opponents, I want to make it clear to all skeptics that RES, among other things, is the most sovereign source of energy for Poland - stated Prime Minister Donald Tusk during a government session.

- We will not extract oil from Polish deposits. Oil will always be either Russian or Arab, and the war in Iran clearly shows how dangerous dependence on external energy supplies can be - he continued.

- We will act [...] in a wise, non-ideological manner, but we will develop renewable energy sources in Poland, particularly wind energy - he further stated.

- We undertook many, very many actions to defuse the initial ETS and to completely transform thinking about energy prices in the context of the ETS2 discussion, and our actions have already brought results at this moment - said Prime Minister Donald Tusk during a government meeting.

- It was very important for me to make all European institutions and European partners realize that Poland has a very specific situation and that regarding Poland, we will demand, and this has finally found understanding after years of misunderstandings, Poland will demand specifically Polish solutions, so as to respect our situation where, among other things, the ETS constitutes a very significant and negatively decisive factor when it comes to energy prices, and we will continue to fight for this effectively - he continued.

- I can tell all those who think the ETS is some kind of trifle, to use the language currently prevailing in the opposition, no, it's not simple, it requires very complex and very ingenious actions, fortunately we have a team that can actually get this done in Europe - he went on to say.

- The European Council will begin the day after tomorrow, which will concern the issue of European competitiveness, including the Polish economy on the global stage. By necessity, energy prices will likely be at the forefront there - said Prime Minister Donald Tusk during a government meeting.

- The discussion about the ETS, ETS1, ETS2, has reignited. PiS politicians are flexing their muscles and pretending to have both excellent ideas and to be determined and effective in the fight for cheap energy, and we are increasingly hearing calls to leave European agreements, including the ETS - he continued.

- I will allow myself to quote the former Prime Minister of PiS, Mr. Morawiecki, and it was recent, from 2023, when he said: withdrawal from the ETS is not legally possible within European law. This is proposed by those who lack knowledge or have bad intentions in this matter. That's all regarding the comment of the former PiS prime minister in response to all these voices coming from PiS today, calling for Poland to withdraw from European agreements - he went on to say.

- Poland will not send its troops to Iran. This conflict does not directly concern our security. Poland has other tasks within NATO - said Prime Minister Donald Tusk during a government session.

- What we have at our disposal, when it comes to the sea, must serve the security of the Baltic Sea. And our allies, including the Americans, understand this very well - he continued.

"President Nawrocki is clearly bothered by the corset imposed by the Constitution. He'd like to be the government, the court, and the prosecutor. Well, Mr. President, you must get used to discomfort. No one stands above the Constitution" - wrote Marcin Kierwiński on X.

Prezydentowi Nawrockiemu wyraźnie uwiera gorset nałożony przez Konstytucję. Chciałby być rządem, sądem i prokuratorem.
Cóż Pan Prezydent musi przywyknąć do niewygód. Nikt nie stoi ponad Konstytucja.

— Marcin Kierwiński (@MKierwinski) March 17, 2026

- My role today is to explain to you the alternative proposals that the President has presented to Prime Minister Tusk ahead of the upcoming European Council, in accordance with the law on cooperation between the Council of Ministers and the President, as well as the Sejm and Senate. This is in the event that a majority to abolish the ETS cannot be formed. We have five concrete proposals - Wanda Buk said at a press conference.

- These are not proposals of a cosmetic or superficial nature, because after 20 years of the ETS's operation and based on the data presented to you by Minister Rabenda, there is no longer time for such measures. The first of them is the introduction of a substitute fee. Today, the situation is such that entrepreneurs buy emission allowances on the stock exchange - it's a standard financial instrument - they buy it on the primary market or from financial institutions. On the secondary market, Poland is a net payer. This means that Polish entrepreneurs pay more for emission allowances than ultimately goes into our budget - she continued.

- We propose to replace this financial instrument, whose value is unlimited and whose volatility is completely uncontrolled, or rather, to enable our entrepreneurs, as well as European entrepreneurs, to pay a so-called substitute fee into the budgets of individual member states. The substitute fee would not exceed the cost of the lowest ETS system in the world. The minister did not mention this, but I think it is worth noting that the EU's ETS system is the most expensive system worldwide, ten times more expensive on average than the Chinese system and more than half as expensive as the Californian system - she emphasized.

"The second proposal is to introduce a CO2 price limit within the Market Stability Reserve system. This is a mechanism designed to stabilize prices. Introduced in 2015 to the ETS system, it basically works by withdrawing allowances from the market when there are too many and the price is too low. Conversely, if there are too few allowances and the price is too high, additional allowances are released. Unfortunately, this mechanism works poorly. Why? Because it is linked to the volume of allowances on the market, not actual price increases. It's like having a thermostat that reacts to how much fuel is in the furnace, rather than the room temperature.

We propose to turn the MSR system into a well-functioning thermostat. If the EU allowance price exceeds EUR 10 per tonne of emissions, additional allowances should be released onto the market. The third pillar is the end of speculation. From the very beginning, the ETS system was designed as a financial instrument. You often hear that it is a para-tax, and this is an accurate definition or formulation because it effectively has all the characteristics of a tax. However, in 2005, when these regulations were adopted, we were unable to – the European Union was unable to achieve unanimity. Therefore, it was proposed to bypass the regulations related to introducing a new tax into the European Union by formulating it as a financial instrument. What does this mean? It means that today, the majority of those who profit from allowances are financial institutions that trade these allowances for future gains. We propose to exclude financial institutions that do not contribute to decarbonization in any way, but rather prey not only on household budgets but also on industry and our future. The fourth solution is free allowances, and limiting their phasing out.

Energy-intensive industries are not just industries that pay for energy. Along with ETS costs. Energy-intensive industries are also obliged to offset the emissions they produce. Until now, energy-intensive industries have had the option of using so-called free allowances. However, the Commission has now decided that since the CBAM border tax has been introduced, we can phase out these free allowances. The problem, however, is that CBAM does not work, that it does not cover the entire supply chain. It is very easy to circumvent. Phasing out free allowances, as the minister said, will result in an additional several billion zlotys for our industry annually that it will have to bear.

We propose to abandon the phasing out of free allowances. The last pillar, and this is no longer optional, unlike the previous proposals, is the abandonment of the ETS2 system.”

- "Minister Sikorski is deeply entrenched in legal denialism. He increasingly fails to acknowledge reality because it is inconvenient and contradicts his interests. I recommend reviewing Article 4a of the Act on the Cooperation of the Council of Ministers with the President of the Republic of Poland, the Sejm, and the Senate on matters related to Poland's membership in the EU, particularly paragraph 4 (I've attached it so you don't have to search)." - wrote Paweł Szefernaker on social media.

- "You don't need to thank me, but instead, you should quickly consider the position of the President of the Republic of Poland regarding the EU ETS, which will help quickly end high energy prices in Poland." - stated the head of the cabinet of the President of the Republic of Poland.

U ministra Sikorskiego głęboko postępuje denializm prawniczy. Coraz częściej nie uznaje rzeczywistości, bo jest ona niewygodna, sprzeczna z jego interesami. Polecam zapoznanie się z art. 4a ustawy o współpracy Rady Ministrów z Prezydentem RP oraz Sejmem i Senatem w sprawach… pic.twitter.com/QAFHcQxoq2

— Paweł Szefernaker 🇵🇱 (@szefernaker) March 17, 2026

- The President lacks both constitutional authority and knowledge, both official and personal, to engage in European policy. Patriotism would be to govern well, not to make further attempts to usurp power - wrote Radosław Sikorski on platform X.

- Heads of wartime missions in Tehran, the UAE, and Kyiv are still awaiting ambassadorial nominations - added the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Prezydent nie ma ani uprawnień konstytucyjnych ani wiedzy, tak urzędniczej jak osobistej, do zajmowania się polityką europejską.
Patriotyzmem byłoby dobre sprawowanie urzędu a nie kolejne próby zagarniania władzy.
Kierownicy placówek wojennych w Teheranie, ZEA i Kijowie nadal…

— Radosław Sikorski 🇵🇱🇪🇺 (@sikorskiradek) March 17, 2026

- Plan B will certainly be prepared. However, it is difficult for me to imagine, it is the president's duty, it is not his whim. According to the constitution, the president has exhaustively, that is, listed one by one in the constitution, what he can do – said Adam Szłapka in Polsat News' "Graffiti".

- Judges [of the Constitutional Tribunal] have been elected by the Sejm in accordance with the constitution, in accordance with the laws. It is the president's duty, not his whim, to receive these oaths. If he does not do so – it will be his problem. We will manage with it – he stated.

- But how – first let's implement plan A. We are in plan A – he added.

- Where was he for 2 years [Waldemar Żurek], where were they for 2 years? PiS actually acted quickly and didn't postpone this for 2 years, whereas they are doing this in a cynical manner now to take over the Constitutional Tribunal, which they said didn't exist - stated Zbigniew Bogucki on Radio Zet.

- First, the procedures must be completed in accordance with the law, in accordance with the regulations, which is why I will be asking the Marshal on behalf of the President... The Marshal can face the truth and say: Mr. Minister, or Mr. President, we made a mistake, we will repeat it. It didn't work out again - stated Zbigniew Bogucki on Radio Zet.

- From what I observed during the Sejm deliberations, there was simply no decision to shorten this [7-day] period concerning Constitutional Tribunal judges. The Sejm would have had to decide on this, and indeed that is when this provision would have materialized. However, I did not notice them shortening this term - stated Zbigniew Bogucki on Radio Zet.

- Today, a letter that I have drafted on behalf of the President will be sent to the [Sejm] Marshal with questions regarding these far-reaching doubts. Once Marshal Czarzasty responds, and I assume he will respond quickly, then the President will address the matter - he continued.

- For now, it seems there's no one to receive [the oaths] from. I'll explain it very simply. Because, in my opinion, the Sejm made such schoolboy, and yet very serious, formal and procedural errors during the election of these judges. Not adhering to the successive provisions of the Sejm's Rules of Procedure and perhaps one provision of the Constitution - stated Zbigniew Bogucki on Radio Zet.

- Some economists, just like some lawyers, behave in such a way as not to describe reality, whether legal, economic, or state budget finances, but rather to describe reality in a way that is beneficial to the government. They change their minds depending on the government's needs, which is the case, for example, with the Constitutional Tribunal (TK) - stated Zbigniew Bogucki on Radio Zet.

- Well, great. I understand some letter will arrive on this matter. Okay - said Adam Szłapka in Polsat News's “Graffiti”.

He was referring to the announcement made yesterday by the President's advisor.

- I'm curious who will write it. Will it be, for example, the former Minister for European Affairs in the PiS government, Minister Konrad Szymański, who recently published a very extensive and critical article in “Rzeczpospolita” against the current PiS policy - he continued.

As he stated: - I rarely do this, but in this case, I will refer to one of the videos published online by Sławomir Mentzen. They are very weak on European issues - I'm talking about PiS. Throughout Mateusz Morawiecki's entire term, they shouted at press conferences and were completely unassertive regarding European Union matters, where it was necessary to fight for our interests.

- After all, it was they who created the program called the Green Deal. It was they who did not use the opportunity to modify and change the European Union's migration policy so that it would be safe from Poland's perspective. And the ECJ, after all, was established in previous times, not now - he pointed out.

- It is very regrettable, because I will continue to urge the Marshal, just as the President does, to fulfill his constitutional duties. He is not doing so. The Marshal of the Sejm does not have a veto over laws. The Marshal of the Sejm should submit the most important matters concerning, in this case, the sovereignty and security of the state, for the Sejm's deliberations. If the Sejm did not accept them, then the will of the most important legislative body of the Republic of Poland would have to be recognized. But the Marshal of the Sejm is behaving like a government spokesperson - stated Zbigniew Bogucki on Radio Zet.

- Regarding SAFE, it was certainly an attempt to set a trap, a wolf pit for the president, to make him explain himself. I don't have that conviction [that he fell into it]. We are facing an unprecedented hunt, I would slowly compare it to the industry of contempt that was unleashed against the late President Lech Kaczyński, where he was denied the ability to make decisions, where he was called disgraceful and unworthy names, where he was called a traitor  etc. - stated Zbigniew Bogucki on Radio Zet.

President Karol Nawrocki has sent his position on the ETS system to Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

"The most rational solution from the perspective of Europe's economic and strategic interest would be to abandon the EU ETS system. This would immediately reduce cost pressure on industry, restore more balanced conditions for global trade, and halt the ongoing process of deindustrialization," the president wrote.

In the absence of consensus on abolishing the ETS, Karol Nawrocki proposes:

- Introducing the option of paying a substitute fee instead of retiring emission allowances;

- Introducing a mechanism to lower the prices of emission allowances;

- Excluding financial institutions from the market - limiting speculation;

- Maintaining a real system of free emission allowances for industry.

As stated by the president, "the reform of the ETS directive should include a complete renunciation of the implementation of the ETS2 system."

"I expect the Polish government to adopt a position that fully protects Poles from further consequences of climate policy. The directions of action presented by me are a way to lower energy costs. The effect of such a policy will be to increase the competitiveness of Polish industry, as well as savings in the wallets of Poles," wrote Karol Nawrocki.

"I am convinced that such a stance by Poland should be presented during the European Council," he emphasized.

Prezydent jasno wskazuje kierunek przed posiedzeniem Rady Europejskiej: odejście od ETS.

Jeśli dziś nie ma na to zgody to trzeba natychmiast ograniczyć koszty tego systemu: obniżyć ceny uprawnień, zakończyć finansową spekulację i zatrzymać ETS2, który uderzy w portfele Polaków. https://t.co/IUeaNGyNSU

— Paweł Szefernaker 🇵🇱 (@szefernaker) March 17, 2026

- There is no threat to the stability of public finances. It always depends on how individual programs or expenditures are distributed in a given year; it does not mean that it will grow faster in the following months – said Adam Szłapka in the "Graffiti" program on Polsat News, when asked about the Ministry of Finance's announcement that the budget deficit after February 2026 amounted to PLN 48.5 billion.

- The problem with the deficit has existed for many years, and not only in Poland. In Poland, this state of public finances is actually not the worst compared to other countries. These are times, unfortunately, when we have to spend much more on defense. We are spending almost 5% on defense – he stated.

- These are record expenditures, on par with other European Union countries. They look at this with admiration and also approach various deficit-related indicators with understanding – he indicated.

- The ETS (Emissions Trading System) fits into this green mania. This green mania is consuming the EU, it's crippling it. The EU, which was once a leader in economic development, not so long ago, is now dramatically losing its economic potential. In fact, the liberal-left elites are tying the EU's hands and feet; they are the greatest enemy of the EU - stated Zbigniew Bogucki on Radio Zet.

- For now, no talks are underway on this matter. We have much bigger challenges here, in our region. I am saying that we are the largest hub when it comes to all logistics for Ukraine, we are indeed the main country when it comes to the defense of NATO's eastern flank, as well as the EU's eastern border - stated Zbigniew Bogucki in a conversation with Bogdan Rymanowski on Radio Zet.

- There are really very many threats that Poland is facing, to which Poland must respond, but also within the framework of allied assistance in which we operate, in order to stop this Russian barbarity. We are a loyal ally, we fulfill our allied obligations. I think our greatest allies, including the USA, see this - he continued.

- The Polska Zbrojna (Armed Poland) program, which is a program for the modernization of the Polish army and the development of the Polish defense industry, utilizing the European SAFE program, will be signed, I think, by the Minister of National Defence, or the Minister of Finance, with the authorization of the Council of Ministers. But I think it will be the Minister of National Defence. The procedure is described in the government resolution from last week, and there are no doubts about it – said Adam Szłapka in an interview with Marcin Fijołek on Polsat News’s “Graffiti”.

- Without delay. I think it will happen in the coming days. Because we are keen for advances from this program to start flowing to Poland in April, for the Ministry of National Defence, the Polish Armaments Group, and individual contracts to be signed already – he stated.

At 12:00, the Constitutional Tribunal is scheduled to consider a motion filed by PiS MPs to examine the constitutionality of provisions of the law on the status of Constitutional Tribunal judges – including the article concerning the oath, to the extent that it imposes an obligation on the President to take such an oath from a person elected by the Sejm, and the Sejm's regulations, to the extent that they govern the principles and procedure for nominating candidates and electing Constitutional Tribunal judges, including defining the required majority of votes for electing a judge of the tribunal.

At 12:00, a government session will commence. The agenda includes a draft amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Fiscal Penal Code, as well as a draft amendment to the act on supporting the development of rural areas with the participation of funds from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development within the framework of the Rural Development Programme for 2014–2020.

At 12:15, an event titled "No to the ECJ" will take place in Warsaw, featuring PiS Deputy Chairman Przemysław Czarnek, author of the ECJ report Marek Lachowicz, and chairman of the Mazowsze Region Board of NSZZ "Solidarność" Dariusz Paczuski.

At 13:00, a press conference will be held in the Sejm with the participation of the chairman of the PiS parliamentary club, Mariusz Błaszczak, and MPs Zbigniew Kuźmiuk and Paweł Hreniak.