Poland's Presidency in focus: Exploring key priorities through open data
What the data tells us about the EU's priorities under the 2025 Polish Presidency
In January 2025, Poland took over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. Succeeding Hungary, Poland now chairs the Council, commencing a trio presidency alongside Denmark and Cyprus. Under the overarching theme ‘Security, Europe!’, Poland’s presidency places a strong emphasis on resilience – particularly in energy, agriculture and healthcare.
This data story focuses on three of the seven priorities of the Polish Presidency – the energy transition, competitive and resilient agriculture, and health security – given their direct impact on citizens’ daily lives, as well as Europe’s economic stability and long-term resilience. Open data provides a factual foundation for exploring these priorities, offering context, trends and benchmarks that help illuminate the challenges and policy ambitions of the Polish Presidency.
Investigating the EU’s energy landscape through open data
One pillar of the Polish Presidency is ensuring energy security while maintaining affordability for citizens and businesses. Poland’s focus on energy security is particularly evident in its efforts to stabilise household electricity prices – a crucial issue given that the residential sector accounts for 26 % of the EU’s final energy consumption. Figure 1.1 shows that Poland maintained stable energy prices (excluding taxes) at 10 ct/kWh from 2014 to 2024, even as the EU average doubled after 2021, reaching 22 ct/kWh in 2024. Poland was able to maintain stable electricity prices through strategies such as price freezes, subsidies and gradual tariff adjustments to shield households from rising energy costs.
Another aspect of energy security is dependency on imports. Figure 1.2 illustrates the EU’s energy imports dependency, highlighting the variation in reliance on external energy sources across Member States. With an imports dependency of 48 %, Poland relies on external energy sources for less than half of its energy needs. This dependency is lower than the EU average of 58 % dependency on external energy and places Poland alongside countries like Czechia and France that have moderate reliance on imports due to strong domestic energy production. Meanwhile, countries like Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta exhibit the highest dependency (above 75 %), relying almost entirely on imported energy. On the other end, Estonia, Finland and Sweden are among the least dependent countries (under 25 %), benefiting from domestic energy sources.
Through open data, we can track the EU’s progress on its energy security strategy and measure the effectiveness of these policies in enhancing affordability and sustainability across the EU energy market.
Figure 1: How do EU Member States compare in terms of energy prices and import dependency?
Source: Eurostat (electricity prices); Eurostat (energy imports dependency).
Exploring agricultural competitiveness with data-driven insights
Ensuring the competitiveness and resilience of the agriculture sector is vital for the EU, particularly in the context of evolving trade dynamics, climate challenges and growing concerns around food security. In this effort, open data plays a key role by offering insights into how market conditions, production costs and policy measures affect agricultural performance across Member States.
To illustrate how these factors play out at the national level, Figure 2 presents a comparative view of Poland’s agriculture sector relative to the EU average. This comparison covers key indicators such as the sector’s share in gross value added (GVA), employment rates in agriculture, and farmer income – each offering a window into the broader state of resilience within the sector.
Across the EU, agriculture consistently contributes around 1.5 % to total GVA. Poland, however, stands out with a notably higher share, ranging between 2 % and 3 %, amounting to 2.8 % in 2022. A similar pattern emerges when looking at employment: while structural shifts in the EU have led to a gradual decline in agricultural employment – now averaging 3.4 % – Poland continues to maintain a much higher share at 8 %. These structural developments have not only reshaped the agricultural labour market but have also been accompanied by significant efficiency gains across the sector.
One key indicator of this progress is the real income per agricultural work unit, which reflects the income generated per full-time-equivalent worker, taking into account all input such as land, labour and capital. EU-wide, this income has increased by 66 % since 2010. Poland has seen even stronger growth, with a remarkable 119 % increase over the same period – nearly double the EU average. This underlines the extent to which different national contexts can shape agricultural outcomes.
Income trends become even more revealing when compared to national average wages. Between 2010 and 2021, the EU’s average ratio of farmer income to national wages rose from 37 % to 52 %, while Polish farmers maintained a slightly higher ratio of 55 %. This suggests a greater degree of economic resilience among agricultural workers in certain Member States, despite the shared pressures across the EU.
By highlighting such national examples, open data enables a more nuanced understanding of the EU’s agricultural landscape. It supports evidence-based policymaking that strengthens competitiveness and helps ensure the sector’s resilience in the face of future challenges.
Figure 2: How does Polish agriculture compare to the EU average?
Source: European Commission (farmers’ income and employment in agriculture); Eurostat (real income); Eurostat (GVA).
Analysing health trade and medical supply chains using open data
With challenges ranging from climate change to cyber threats and the growing strategic importance of medicine supply chains, health security has emerged as a key priority under the Polish Presidency. Open data provides valuable insights into the EU’s strengths and strategic dependencies, offering essential context for policies aimed at reinforcing the EU’s role as a global leader in healthcare and pharmaceutical innovation.
The EU’s strong position in pharmaceutical production is reflected in its trade balance in medical and pharmaceutical products (Figure 3.1). Over the past 20 years, both exports and imports have grown significantly. However, exports have expanded at a much faster rate, leading to a record export surplus of EUR 158 billion in 2023. This rise in trade balance reflects growing global demand, accelerated innovation and the EU’s strong manufacturing base – especially since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The global reach of the EU’s pharmaceutical trade is further illustrated by its main trading partners (Figure 3.2), with most imports and exports concentrated among eight countries. The United States and Switzerland are particularly significant partners, with the EU exporting EUR 91.7 billion in pharmaceutical products to the United States. These exports account for 33.1 % of the EU’s total exports of medical and pharmaceutical products. Switzerland also plays a major role, with exports (EUR 42.8 billion) slightly exceeding imports (EUR 38.4 billion) and accounting for 15.5 % of total exports in this category. Other important trade partners include China, Japan, Russia, Singapore, South Korea and the United Kingdom, which together account for a substantial share of the EU’s pharmaceutical trade flows.
These insights highlight the EU’s strong global standing in pharmaceutical trade and the importance of maintaining resilient, strategically diversified supply chains. By leveraging open data, policymakers can better anticipate vulnerabilities, strengthen the EU’s health security and support a robust pharmaceutical sector capable of meeting both current and future challenges.
Figure 3: What is the EU’s trade balance for medical and pharmaceutical products?
Source: Eurostat.
Conclusion
This data story explores three of the Polish Presidency’s key priorities – the energy transition, agricultural competitiveness and health security – each relevant to building a resilient European Union. Open data reveals Poland’s effectiveness in maintaining stable and affordable electricity prices, illustrating the potential for ensuring stability within the EU’s wider energy sector. In addition, open agricultural data provides valuable insights into broader EU trends, highlighting the sector’s sustained importance in economic growth, employment and farmer incomes. Finally, trade data underscores the EU’s robust global position in pharmaceuticals, while also illuminating key dependencies in supply chains that inform strategic policymaking.
Open data continues to offer transparent insights into the EU’s progress and challenges, enabling informed decisions that benefit policymakers, businesses and citizens alike. Curious to explore further how open data shapes the Polish Presidency’s priorities and the EU’s resilience strategies? Dive into open datasets at data.europa.eu, and stay informed by subscribing to our newsletter.