Poland and the euro

There is no target date for Polish euro adoption, and no fixed date for when the country will join ERM-II (the fifth euro convergence criterion).

Euro adoption will require the approval of at least two-thirds of the Sejm to make a constitutional amendment changing the official currency from the złoty to the euro. The Law and Justice (PiS) party, Poland's largest political party, opposes euro adoption. Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said that he may agree to a referendum on euro participation in order to gain their support for a constitutional amendment. On the other hand, in 2024, Tusk’s finance minister Domański said that adopting the euro is currently not justified and that the złoty helped Poland avoid recession during the 2008 financial crisis and to weather other shocks.

Political preparations for euro adoption

Prior to 2004

Plans to join the eurozone began back in 2003 before the accession to the EU, when the contemporary premier Leszek Miller stated that Poland would join the eurozone between 2007 and 2009. One of the leaders of Civic Platform party (PO), Jan Rokita, was certain that the best way to converge to euro was through a unilateral euroization. Nevertheless, euroization is against the rules of the EU and it cannot be adopted by any Member State without the approval of the Union. Lastly, the plan was not finalized and Poland suspended it.

2005–2007

During the rule of the Law and Justice, Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland and League of Polish Families coalition, the euro was not a priority on Poland's agenda. In 2006, prime minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz stated that the accession to euro area was only possible after 2009, as the Polish deficit could decrease to 3% of GDP by the end of 2007. The negotiations about Poland joining the eurozone were postponed. The then-prime minister, Jarosław Kaczyński, held an even more skeptical position. In his opinion, the euro was disadvantageous for Poland, as it would cause an increase in prices and the złoty would lose stability.

2008–2012

The euro adoption process in Poland is regulated by the Strategic Framework for National Euro Changeover Plan (adopted by the Council of Ministers in 2010) and the National Euro Changeover Plan (approved in 2011 by the Committee for European Affairs). The plan comprises an economic impact assessment of the euro adoption, followed by a chapter on the measures needed to ensure Polish compliance with the "Maastricht convergence criteria", and finally a roadmap for the euro changeover process.

On 10 September 2008, speaking at the launch of an economic forum in a Polish resort of Krynica-Zdrój, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the ruling government's objective to join the Eurozone in 2012, which was confirmed by the government on 28 October 2008. However, Poland's then President Lech Kaczynski wanted euro adoption put to a referendum. Finance Minister Dominik Radziwill said on 10 July 2009 that Poland could meet the fiscal criteria by 2012 and enter the Eurozone in 2014. On 5 November 2009, speaking at the news conference, Polish Deputy Finance Minister Ludwik Kotecki said the government may announce a national strategy for euro adoption in mid-2010. In an interview for Rzeczpospolita dated 22 October 2009, he also said Poland could adopt the euro in 2014 if the general government deficit is reduced in 2012. Former President Lech Kaczyński said at a news conference that Poland was unable to join Eurozone before 2015, and even that date was still very optimistic. Also, Polish government officials had confirmed that Poland would not join Eurozone in 2012. On Friday, 11 December 2009, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Poland could join the eurozone in 2015. Speaking during Finance Ministry-organized seminar on the euro-adoption process on 15 December 2009, Deputy Minister of Finance Ludwik Kotecki said the year 2015 is more likely than 2014, however he declined to specify the official target date.

In the years following the Great Recession, economic statistics showed that the devaluation of its floating currency the złoty led Polish products to become more competitively priced to foreign buyers, and because of that, Poland had a higher economic GDP growth in subsequent years than if the country had been a part of the eurozone. The Polish government advocated in 2012 that it would only be wise for Poland to join the eurozone once the euro crisis had ended, based on the argument that delaying their accession would minimise the risk for Poland to become one of the net financial creditors to other eurozone countries in financial difficulties.

In December 2011, Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski said that Poland aimed to adopt the euro on 1 January 2016, but only if "the eurozone is reformed by then, and the entrance is beneficial to us." The Polish government planned to comply with all the Euro convergence criteria by 2015. In autumn 2012, the Monetary Policy Council of the Polish National Bank published its official monetary guidelines for 2013, confirming earlier political statements that Poland should only join the ERM-II once the existing eurozone countries have overcome the current sovereign-debt crisis, to maximise the benefits of monetary integration and minimise associated costs. The governor of the National Bank, Marek Belka, has stated that the euro will not be adopted before the end of his term in 2016.

In late 2012, Tusk announced that he planned to launch a "national debate" on euro adoption the following spring, and in December 2012, Polish Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski said that his country should strive to adopt the euro as soon as possible. On 21 December 2012, it was announced by the Ministry of Finance that they planned to update the country's National Euro Changeover Plan in 2013, mainly due to the recent institutional changes in the eurozone which require additional considerations. One of the key details investigated as part of the work to update the plan is whether or not an amendment to Article 227 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland will need to be passed to change the currency from the Złoty to the euro and to enact changes to the central bank.

Despite the Polish government under Prime Minister Donald Tusk having favoured euro adoption in 2012, it however did not have the required two-thirds majority in the Sejm to amend the constitution to make it legally compatible with euro adoption, due to the opposition of the Law and Justice party to the euro. The Polish Finance Minister emphasised that the government's support for euro adoption remained unchanged as a strategic goal, and would not be changed in the updated plan. At the same time, the European debt crisis gave the government reason to wait for increased stability in the euro.

2013–2023

In January 2013, Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski stated that a decision on euro adoption should not be made until after parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for 2015, but that in the meantime the country should try to comply with the convergence criteria. In February 2013, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the Law and Justice party stated that "I do not foresee any moment when the adoption of the euro would be advantageous for us" and called for a referendum on euro adoption. Rostowski has stated that Poland will not set a target date for the switch since the country first needs to carry out reforms to prepare itself. In March 2013, Tusk said for the first time that he would be open to considering a referendum on euro participation – decided by simple majority – provided that it was part of a package in which the parliament first approved the necessary constitutional amendment to adopt the euro subject to approval in a referendum. In April 2013 Marek Belka, head of National Bank of Poland, said that Poland should demand to be permitted to adopt the euro without first joining the ERM-II due to concerns over currency speculation. Following the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine, Belka said that Poland needed to reevaluate its reluctance to join the eurozone. In June 2014, a joint statement by the finance minister, central bank chief and president of Poland stated that Poland should begin a debate shortly after the 2015 parliamentary elections about when to adopt the euro, leading to a roadmap decision that might even include identification of a target date.

In October 2014, the Deputy Prime Minister Janusz Piechociński suggested that Poland should join the Eurozone in 2020 at the earliest. The newly elect Prime Minister, Ewa Kopacz, having replaced Donald Tusk for the final year of the government's term, at the same time commented: "Before answering the question which target date should be set for the euro changeover, we must ask another: What is the situation of the eurozone and where are they going? If the eurozone will strengthen, then Poland should fulfill all the criteria for inclusion, which would in any case be good for the economy." The PM hereby referred to the earlier political decision of first letting the National Coordination Committee for Euro Changeover complete its update of the changeover plan, which await a prior establishment of the banking union, before setting a target date for euro adoption. More recently, Krzysztof Szczerski, the foreign affairs advisor to Poland's new President Andrzej Duda, said in July 2015 that "Poles should decide in a referendum whether they want to embrace the euro".

In the 2015 Polish parliamentary election, the winning party was the eurosceptic Law and Justice party, which opposes euro adoption. On 13 April 2019 at a convention, Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of Law and Justice party stated: "We will adopt the euro someday, because we are committed to do so and we are and will be in the European Union, but we will accept it when it is in our interest". He came forth with a declaration, according to which the euro would not be introduced until Poland's economy catches up with Western European economies. In his view Poland should accept the euro only when the national economy will reach 85% of GDP per capita of Germany. Later on, Jarosław Kaczyński and premier Mateusz Morawiecki maintain that convergence to euro at this point would be harmful for Poland.

2024–present

In April 2024, the Finance Minister in the Tusk government, Andrzej Domański stated that Poland is still not ready to adopt the euro, and added that having the zloty helped Poland avoid a recession in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. This statement shows that the change of government, after the defeat of the PiS in the 2023 elections, did not modify the stance of Poland on the adoption of the euro. In January 2026, Domański reiterated his opposition to Poland joining the Eurozone in the short to medium term, arguing that Poland's strong economic performances showed that growth did not require the adoption of the euro.