Poland has continued adjusting its legal framework to improve regulatory management. Transparency and citizen participation in rule-making has improved in recent years. The public is increasingly informed in advance that public consultations are planned to take place for specific regulatory drafts and can submit comments on draft laws made available on an online portal. During the legislative process, draft laws may be returned to the ministries if the public consultation process did not comply with the rules, including if the consultation report is absent. The Government Legislation Centre will now oversee the correctness of the consultation process of all legislative acts.
Regulatory impact assessment (RIA) is mandatory for all primary laws and subordinate regulations, and assess a range of impacts including competition, SMEs, environment, public finances (central and local government), regional areas, and specific social groups. A RIA must accompany all draft proposals submitted for public consultation. Moreover, RIA will be obligatory for parliamentary bills in the Sejm.
The Department for the Improvement of Business Regulation within the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology is responsible for the systematic advancement of the better regulation agenda. The Chancellery of the Prime Minister is responsible for the central oversight of regulatory management tools. It encompasses several regulatory oversight functions. The Government Programming Board is an auxiliary body to the Council of Ministers. The Board sets the government work programme, which includes legislation, strategic programmes and projects, and is responsible for the quality control of stakeholder engagement, RIA and ex post evaluations, together with the RIA Co-ordinator. Since 2024, the RIA Co-ordinator has become a member of the Government Programming Board and their mandate has been strengthened. The RIA Co-ordinator issues opinions on the impact of proposals before they are included in the government work programme and is responsible for reviewing all RIAs submitted by government ministries and offices for all primary laws and subordinate regulations at the stage of intergovernmental consultations. The RIA Co-ordinator is also tasked with examining RIAs for government acts and bills before their appraisal by the Council of Ministers’ Standing Committee.
All primary laws/ ▲ Yes ■ Required ● Yes, there is a regulation and a policy
Major primary laws/ ● Yes, there is a regulation
Some primary laws/ ■ Not required but allowed ● Yes, there is a policy
Never/ ▲ No ■ Not allowed