If Glapiński does find himself in front of the committee, which rules on cases of alleged wrongdoing by people holding high public office, it would come as one of the first significant steps in the current government’s proclaimed policy of punishing those it sees as responsible for abuses of position by its Law and Justice (PiS) predecessor.
The case against Glapiński centers on abuse of position in his constitutionally-defined impartial role as Central Bank governor. A motion backed by 191 coalition government MPs contains eight specific charges against Glapiński, chief among them that he undermined the central bank’s independence by engaging in political activity. Glapiński, who has been Poland’s chief banker since 2016, is a PiS member and has made a number of politically-charged statements during his tenure.
“I have understood that this hysterical… attack on the central bank must have a deeper motive, a bigger goal,” he told the pro-PiS Sieci weekly during an election campaign. “It is about the implementation of a German plan to oust the PiS government and establish a Tusk government to take us into the ERM (Exchange Rate Mechanism) 2, that will bind the złoty to the euro at a fixed rate as a step towards euro adoption”.
He also accused the European Commission of trying to bring down the Polish government and of using post-pandemic recovery funding as a political blackmail tool.
Furthermore, Glapiński stands accused of indirectly financing the budget deficit by purchasing assets in 2020 and 2021, under the PiS government, and bypassing internal procedures in order to do so.
There are also allegations that Glapiński has misused his position for political gain by engaging in internal conflicts with members of the NBP’s rate setting body, the Monetary Policy Council (MPC), and the bank’s management.
His critics argue that his conduct breached Article 227 (4) of the Polish constitution, which states:
“The President of the National Bank of Poland shall not belong to a political party, a trade union or perform public activities incompatible with the dignity of his office.”
The central bank governor is further charged with conducting foreign exchange interventions without the proper authorization from the NBP’s management.
In an interview for TVP World, Mikołaj Raczyński, a capital markets executive and asset management specialist, currently serving as Head of Portu Poland and Chief Investment Officer at Portu by WOOD&Company, said the interventions were “performed exactly on the last day of the fiscal year, to artificially increase the NBP’s profits which were transmitted to the government.”
In addition, Glapiński’s critics claim he misled the Ministry of Finance regarding the bank’s profit projections during an August estimation. This has raised questions over his transparency and reliability when it comes to financial reporting.
Bond purchases made by the NBP in 2020-21 are another issue that could drag the banker into hot water. These purchases were allegedly conducted without the required authorization from the MPC, bringing into doubt the legality and oversight of these operations.
Response from the ECB
In December 2023, European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde responded to Glapiński in a letter to the embattled banker.
She wrote that the Statute of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and the ECB guarantees the independence of national central bank governors and that this statute provides a legal shield for Glapiński against potential prosecution by the Sejm.
“The Statute of the ESCB and the ECB, to guarantee the independence of the governors of the national central banks, offers protection in case the Polish Parliament was to subsequently adopt a resolution to prosecute you,” she told Glapiński in the letter, dated December 1.
However, on the subject of whether his seat on the ECB’s General Council might be in jeopardy, Legard seemed more guarded.
“In case the members of the former opposition parties were indeed to submit a preliminary motion to the Sejm, any measure affecting your ability to perform your duties as Governor of NBP may, if not lawful, affect your independence and by extension the independence of the General Council,” she wrote.
She went on to reassure him that he could challenge any decision to prosecute him before the EU Court of Justice to assess its legality.
Who is Prof. Adam Glapiński?
Prof. Adam Glapiński was granted the title of Professor of Economic Sciences by President Bronisław Komorowski in 2013. Prior to this, he was an active member of the Monetary Policy Council. In 2016, he succeeded Marek Belka as the governor of the NBP, overseeing the country's monetary policy and financial stability. He has been a friend and close associate of PiS party leader Jarosław Kaczyński since the early 1990s and was a co-founder of Kaczyński’s first political party, Center Agreement – Polish Union. He was a vociferous supporter of the previous government in last year’s general election campaign, taking aim at the EU as well as what he called a “Russo-German tendency to turn Poland into a more or less advanced form of condominium.”
