Proposal for an advertising tax in Poland

10.2.2021

Question for written answer  E-000832/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Marek Belka (S&D), Leszek Miller (S&D), Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz (S&D)

On the pretext of fighting for the fair taxation of digital giants, the Polish Government is planning to bring in an advertising tax, which is to apply to television and radio broadcasters, press publishers and internet platform operators, among others. This diverges from the proposals and suggestions brought forward previously by the Commission and the OECD because – assessments suggest – the firms the government calls ‘global digital giants’ will pay a so-called ‘contribution’ of around PLN 50-100 million, while other media firms pay up to PLN 800 million. We can presume, therefore, that this is an anti-democratic political weapon, and not merely an economic instrument designed to bolster the country’s finances.

Bearing in mind that the advertising budgets of state-owned companies are focused on public or pro-government media:

• 1.Does the Commission agree that the plan by a Member State to unilaterally introduce a tax that is supposed to be digital-only, in anticipation of the Commission’s proposal for a new digital taxation framework, will not lead to further fragmentation of the EU internal market?
• 2.Does the Commission not take the view that, with the Polish Government mainly funding public and pro-government media, this tax could have a negative impact on media pluralism and cause many independent media outlets to collapse, undermining the rule of law in Poland and free access of information for the public?
• 3.How is the Commission planning to react to this tax?