PM Sacks Economic Development Minister Nowak Over EU Funding Comments

Minister for Economic Development and Technology Piotr Nowak was dismissed from his post earlier today by PM Mateusz Morawiecki. Poland's Puls Biznesu reports that Morawiecki had Nowak removed from office due as "the agreed formula of cooperation with the minister has been exhausted".

• The disagreement appears to come down to Nowak's comments on 23 March that he had held talks with EU Commissioners on the National Reconstruction Plan, the Polish gov'ts plan submitted to the EU to gain access to funds from the COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Fund.
• However, subsequently gov't spokesman Piotr Muller and Michał Dworczyk, the head of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister stated that in fact there was no agreement yet on the Reconstruction Plan and that Nowak had not been part of negotiations.
• Nowak (41) had only been in office since October 2021. His dismissal, rumoured by gov't critics to be due to him pre-empting more senior gov't officials on EU talks, could prove an end to a short political career, or he could be brought back into Cabinet at a later date after a period on the sidelines.