Premises and Main Dilemmas of the Polish Energy Policy

The Polish energy sector requires changes and the energy policy should be conceived Properly due to its interrelationships with the concept of Poland’s long-term development. A clear strategy concerning operation of the energy sector has been missing since 1989. Changes in government cabinets were accompanied by changes in the restructuring and privatisation concept and in the scope and pace of introducing competition principles. These are rather permanent dilemmas of the energy policy. A circumstance explaining but justifying this situation to a small extent is an exceptionally complex set of factors determining this policy. The authors attempted to explain it describing problems connected with choosing solutions corresponding to changing conditions. According to the authors, in order to accomplish a goal being undoubtedly strategic for the economic policy such as reduction of costs of the energy sector operation and achievin a rational level of prices and improving the state of energy security, in particular, in its economic and financial aspects, it is necessary primarily to continue the systemic transformation remembering all the time about interests of energy consumers and not its producers. It is the authors’ main recommendation. It should be underlined strongly that a special function performed by the State in this process is creating convenient conditions for emergence and operation of the energy market also in these fields, which do not lend themselves for thorough market reforms as yet. With regard to the energy sector it implies that the Government should pursue a policy of a consistent implementation of a priority of building competitive markets in accordance with the Energy Act and the EU directives. Directions of the energy policy and particularly the ownership policy should be clear also for those not involved directly in this sector and especially for investors so that they can shape the perspective of their development, make indispensable investment expenditures and conclude contracts favourable for them on the basis of such government document