Deregulation. It's done.

Donald Tusk on deregulation TVN24

During the deregulation initiative, the public contributed 500 suggestions, about 175 pieces of legislation were drafted, and nearly 20 bills received the president’s signature, stated Rafał Brzoska, leader of the „sprawdzMY” initiative and CEO of InPost, in a press briefing. Here are the key achievements made.

WE CHECK – The Entrepreneurs for Poland Initiative has recently reviewed its deregulation efforts to date. Citizens submitted a total of 13,000 ideas, which were categorized into 33 groups. The most prevalent topic was taxes, representing 18 percent. Public administration ranked second with 10 percent, followed by health at 7 percent.

In a span of 100 days, expert teams formed by the Initiative produced 1,183 proposals, 584 of which were deliberated by the Steering Committee overseeing the teams’ activities. Out of these, 500 proposals were made available on the project’s website, allowing citizens to provide feedback and vote. Nearly 700,000 votes were cast along with nearly 1,000 comments submitted.

According to a June IBRiS survey referenced by the Initiative, close to 63% of Poles are aware of the deregulation process. Over 66% believe that the deregulation project associated with the „sprawdzMY” initiative will positively influence the Polish economy. Almost 75% felt that deregulation would enhance conditions for small and medium-sized enterprises. Additionally, 62% of respondents indicated that deregulation would benefit the circumstances of everyday citizens.

What changes will occur as part of deregulation? Below are the major projects and laws.

Proposed laws – examples

1. A draft law concerning higher education and science, developed as part of the deregulation initiative, has recently been uploaded to the Government Legislation Centre’s website.

What modifications does the act introduce?

– It aims to allow employers to verify the authenticity of an applicant’s educational background. – It has been suggested that universities provide details about the information included in physical diplomas for a fee.

2. Additionally, there is a draft amendment to the Teachers’ Charter.

What changes does the act propose?

– It allows specialized teachers, including pedagogues and psychologists, to conduct classes directly with students for up to 9 hours per week in private kindergartens and schools under arrangements other than an employment contract.

3. The Ministry of Justice prepared three draft amendments to existing laws, which were approved by the government on Tuesday.

What alterations do the amendments entail?

An individual convicted of an intentional crime will be able to petition the court for a lift of a ban on holding a position in a commercial entity or to have the duration of the ban reduced. „Currently, this option is only available for unintentional crimes,” the Ministry of Justice stated. A new process for consensual proceedings against companies will be established. A company will be allowed to voluntarily accept liability and pay a fine or compensation without needing to await a judgment against its representative. A company that rectifies the damage will receive more lenient treatment for its representative – the court may, for instance, conditionally suspend the execution of a sentence, up to five years in prison.

4. Efforts are also being made to draft an amendment to the Act on the Central Registration and Information on Business Activity and the Entrepreneur Information Point, as well as the Act on Goods and Services Tax.

What changes will occur?

– It will allow for the presentation of data from the VAT register using the existing company search engine on the biznes.gov.pl portal, which already compiles basic information from the National Court Register and the Central Registration and Information on Business. This solution aims to provide access to the same scope of data from a single source while preserving the distinct nature of these databases.

5. The Council of Ministers’ legislative and programmatic work list includes the foundations of the draft act amending the Act on the Goods and Services Tax.

What modifications will it bring?

Taxpayers qualified to utilize the simplified procedure will be able to report the VAT owed on imported goods within their tax return. This reporting will be possible regardless of the deadline for submitting a supplementary declaration. Currently, taxpayers with a deadline exceeding four months for supplementary declarations cannot take advantage of this option. The project aims to alleviate taxpayers’ value-added tax burdens on imported goods and lower operating costs for their businesses.

6. The government approved a draft amendment to the Act on the organization and operation of pension funds.

What transformations will it bring?

The new solutions are designed to enhance the efficiency of pension funds, ensure their digitization, and adapt them to technological advancements that have occurred since the introduction of open pension funds in the 1990s. Some formalities within open pension funds will be able to be completed digitally. Electronic means will be available for: entering into an open pension fund participation agreement; submitting a statement

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