Polish PM says gov't building socially-oriented state
The Polish government is building a strong, socially cohesive, just and solidarity-driven state, PM Mateusz Morawiecki said on Wednesday during an inaugural sitting of the Council of Ministers Social Committee.
The committee is an assistance body to the cabinet and prime minister and has been established to coordinate social policy tasks and suggest relevant decisions to the government.
PM Morawiecki stressed that the government was conducting its economic, budgetary and financial policies in a way that is suited to society's needs. He recalled Poland's constitutional provision which states that Poland is a solidarity-driven social market economy.
"And we are building such an economy. To be honest, that was something that we were lacking for the first 25 years after the (political - PAP) transformation. And we are setting such goals for ourselves, such guidelines in our social policy," Mateusz Morawiecki said.
In the context of future committee work, PM Morawiecki said he wanted to maintain economic, financial and budgetary balance while taking care of the social policy component.
The government's policy "is standing on two legs - an economic one and a social one," Morawiecki argued. "We perceive these two dimensions as (in fact) one coherent dimension, which must function for the benefit of families, for the benefit of society, and this is what the Social Committee will focus on," Morawiecki concluded.
The body is chaired by Poland's former prime minister and now Morawiecki's deputy, Beata Szydlo, who expressed hope that the committee would manage to prepare and implement its first social projects by the end of this parliamentary term (autumn 2019 - PAP).
"Over the first two years (in office - PAP), the Law and Justice government managed to implement a range of social programmes," Szydlo added.
The committee’s first meeting was devoted to demographic issues. Earlier Szydlo said the body would initially focus on support for families and senior citizens. The committee comprises a dozen or so ministers, among other officials. (PAP)
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