The decision to introduce the euro in Poland was made on May 1, 2005. The country undertook to adopt the single European currency in the EU accession treaty though without giving the precise date when this will be done. A round-table conference organized early in October by the National Bank of Poland (NBP) and the Institute of Economics at the Polish Academy of Sciences (INE PAN) and focusing on the “Economic, social and political conditions for introducing the euro in Poland” was also inconclusive on the matter. Jacek Świdziński reports:

Professor Leszek Jasiński, head of INE PAN, pointed out that the decision on adopting the single currency has first of all a political and social dimension rather than solely an economic one. Expanding on this observation, Professor Karol Lutkowski from the Warsaw School of Economics quoted...Fellini and appealed to the conference participants “not to deepen the confusion that has already arisen over the issue”. And he added that “we have been invited to the funeral of the Polish zloty at a time when it is most beautiful in its history.” Indeed, never before has the zloty been as strong as it is now; yet is everybody happy about it?
Many economists argue that the appreciation of the zloty could imminently lead to overheating of the economy and subsequently to the depreciation of the Polish currency. The dilemma that Poland is facing is how early should it enter the European currency exchange corridor. Professor Lutkowski pointed to the unprecedented change in currency exchange proportions between the US dollar, Asian currencies and the euro.
Professor Tadeusz Kowalik (INE PAN), while being an economist, dealt with the social and political context of Poland’s entry into the euro zone. He drew attention to the existence in the European Union of four models of capitalism (liberal in the UK and Ireland, social in Scandinavia, continental in Germany and Mediterranean in Italy and Greece) and said that what has to be done first is to select the ultimate model of the system, and only afterwards take decisions as to adopting the euro currency. He also made note of the growing poverty in the country, another aspect of the Polish transformation. It was only in 2005 that the percentage-wise growth of Polish people living below the poverty line was checked.
On his part, Professor Henryk Romański, head of the Philosophy and Sociology Institute at PAN, introduced rather optimistic tones. He posed a simple question: is there any country that adopted the euro and came out badly?  No, there is not.  Hence  the prospect of adopting the euro should not arise any anxieties. But his optimism was not uncritical. Poor preparation of Polish politicians, low social confidence, non-participation in NGOs, a predominantly low voting turnout are factors that bid caution in face of “euro-challenges”.
Cezary Wójcik, PhD, head of the NBP’s Office for Integration with the Euro Zone announced that a “Report on Poland’s full involvement in the third stage of the Economic and Monetary Union” will soon be drawn up. More importantly, he invited Polish citizens to attend a nation-wide debate to be held towards the end of 2008 on the single European currency.
Shortly, ten years will pass since the euro was introduced. When it will be 20 years old, Poland will be among countries celebrating the occasion as a member of the euro zone. For there is no escaping the euro.