On 19 August 2006 the Council of Ministers adopted the Regulatory Reform Programme developed by the Inter-ministerial Task Force for Modern Economic Regulations. The programme is the first comprehensive action plan for better lawmaking in Poland.
The Programme focuses on the simplification of existing legislation, the streamlining of the regulatory process in the drafting of new legislation, the participation in the simplification programme at EU level, as well as institutional and organisational changes within the administration system.
The Programme envisages close co-operation with business organisations, research centres and NGOs. The objective of the cooperation is to identify and simplify inefficient regulations with no harm to the overall system of economic law.
At the national level, actions will focus on an economic law review to indicate legal acts which constitute the greatest barriers for entrepreneurship development. (more >>)
Apart from the simplification of existing legislation, the programme contains measures aimed to achieve a better legislative process. This means that new legislation created by the Government and the Parliament should address the socio-economic needs and that benefits for businesses and consumers which arise from its implementation should be greater than the costs of implementation. An effective instrument to accomplish this objective, used in the EU and the USA, is the Regulatory Impact Assessment. (more >>)
Another element of better regulation will be the system of measuring bureaucracy-related costs – i.e. administrative burdens, mainly those imposed on entrepreneurs. When struggling with red-tape barriers, the actual costs to be borne by entrepreneurs, related with reporting, filling forms and in general informing administration about their activity, need to be assessed. (more >>)
Considering the fact that bureaucracy or red-tape-related costs are particularly burdensome for the smallest businesses, the rule “Think small first” will be applied. In practice this means that every new legal act being drafted will be subject to compulsory evaluation in view of its impact on micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises. (more >>)
Some Polish regulations result from Community regulations. It is also necessary to participate actively in the simplification programme, i.e. the rolling programme of the European Commission. (more >>)
The methods of transposing Community regulations to national legislation also have a significant impact on the quality of national legislation. The Programme takes measures to properly identify and eliminate inadequate (e.g. more restrictive and complicated) transposition of EU directives to national legislation. (more >>)
The Programme also contains measures related to the international SIGMA project, with the aim to support the regulatory reform in new Member States through an analysis of regulatory capacity. The Project Report contains the assessment by independent international experts and recommendations which should contribute to optimal setting up of directions and high effectiveness of actions for better regulation in Poland. (more >>)
Regulatory Reform Programm
(download file.doc)