The Polish government has become larger than the European Commission

The Government of Poland has become larger than the European Commission (EC). Replacing four deputy prime ministers in the Polish government with one may seem like a cost-saving measure, but in reality, it's quite the opposite. The number of ministers is now the highest in Poland's history.

According to RMF24, Poland's government now has 16 ministries, but the Council of Ministers has 28 members. The Polish government now surpasses the European Commission, which currently has 26 members, including the President. Additionally, every third minister holds a position without a ministry.

The increase in the number of government members is a result of four deputy prime ministers resigning from their positions, but only from their deputy prime minister roles. Mariusz Błaszczak, Piotr Gliński, and Jacek Sasin continue to lead the ministries of defense, culture, and state assets, respectively, so they remain in the government. Deputy Prime Minister Henryk Kowalczyk, who headed the Ministry of Agriculture a few months ago, resigned from his position but not from his seat in the government.

Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński also joined the group of government members working without ministries, while ministers Agnieszka Szydło, Marek Kuchciński, Michał Dworczyk, Adam Hofman, Łukasz Schreiber, Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk, Włodzimierz Tomaszewski, and Michał Woś still belong to the group of "portfolio-less" ministers, along with the Prime Minister. Eleven out of the 28 members of the Council of Ministers currently hold positions without portfolios.

Never before has there been such a high number of ministers in any Polish government. The largest governments were in the early 1990s, during Tadeusz Mazowiecki's tenure with 24 members and Hanna Suchocka's with 25 members.

In 2018, including deputy ministers and state secretaries in the Prime Minister's Office, the total number of government members exceeded 125 individuals. At that time, the Prime Minister ordered a reduction of approximately 20%. The plan was to reduce the number of positions to 100, but this was only achieved temporarily.

Today, in addition to the 28 constitutional members, the government also includes 76 deputy ministers in individual ministries and a dozen officials of that rank in the President's Chancellery. In total, the government, in this sense, consists of 115 individuals.

It is worth noting that the number of authorized representatives appointed by the government and the Prime Minister for specific issues is also constantly increasing. Whereas their number used to fluctuate around 50, today there are already 60 such representatives.

As previously reported by The Gaze, Polish President Andrzej Duda signed an amendment to the law prohibiting the employment of officials and employees of the socialist Polish People's Republic security organs in public service and state institutions.