AmCham Poland Advocacy Bulletin 3/2024

AmCham Poland is continually active in the legislative process and legal environment in Poland. This AmCham Poland Advocacy Bulletin provides an update of our advocacy work in a variety of areas on behalf of our member companies. We also invite you to visit our websitewhere we regularly publish the latest activities of AmCham and previous editions of the Advocacy Bulletin.

IN THIS ISSUE:

1. Follow-up After Monthly Meeting with Minister Domański 
2. Involvement in U.S. - Poland Economic and Commercial Dialogue 
3. Revision of the Law on the National Cyber Security System 
4. Amendments to Excise Tax and Fiscal Penal Code 
5. AmCham EU Delegation Ahead of the Polish Presidency  
6. Deregulation Bill 
7. Law on Certification of Public Procurement Contractors 

1. Follow-up After Monthly Meeting with Minister Domański 

Minister of Finance Andrzej Domański was a guest at the AmCham Poland Monthly Meeting on October 9, 2024. In his speech, the Minister emphasized the role of foreign investors in Poland’s economic development and expressed the need to consider their needs when conducting the country’s economic policy. As a follow-up to the meeting, AmCham Poland plans to send a document to the Ministry of Finance summarizing the most critical issues from the point of view of our members that fall under the ministry’s responsibility, e.g., fiscal policy, budget policy, and the functioning of the banking sector and financial markets. If you would like your comments to be included in the AmCham position paper, please send them in Polish to [email protected] by 22 October.

2. Involvement in the U.S.-Poland Economic and Commercial Dialogue 

AmCham was involved in the U.S.-Poland Economic and Commercial Dialogue, for which we prepared a document summarizing key topics and the needs of American investors in Poland. This document served as the foundation for the discussions held.

This government-to-government meeting took place on October 1, 2024, in Washington, DC, and included participation from Arun Venkataraman, Assistant Secretary and Director General of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service, along with leaders from the Commerce Department, State Department, Department of Energy, and other agencies. The event featured an open discussion on transatlantic trade barriers and investors’ concerns.

At the request of the U.S. Embassy, we compiled the most important postulates of American investors in Poland, focusing particularly on the digital sectors, energy, and manufacturing. We placed the greatest emphasis on issues related to the digital economy, highlighting the challenges of public policies and regulations regarding cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, data flows, and the development of digital competencies. The document is available here.

3. Revision of the Law on the National Cyber Security System 

The Ministry of Digital Affairs has published the conclusions of the public consultation of the Draft Bill on Amending the Law on the National Cyber Security System. A document with the Ministry’s responses to the comments submitted during the consultation can be found here. A significant part of AmCham’s comments included in our position paper have been implemented or clarified by the Ministry. In particular, a number of key definitions will be corrected based on the arguments raised in our position paper.

The main aim of the draft bill is to strengthen the protection of citizens and institutions against growing threats in cyberspace and to adopt NIS2 Directive updating the EU cyber-security framework. The new rules significantly expand the scope of the national cyber security regime and cover numerous new areas of business, such as wastewater, ICT management, space activities, manufacturing, as well as production and distribution of chemicals and food.

The bill will now be referred to government committees for work. It will still have to be approved by the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers and the Council of Ministers before being referred to the Sejm.

4. Amendments to Excise Tax and Fiscal Penal Code

On October 7, 2024, AmCham submitted a position paper to Undersecretary of State Jarosław Neneman, outlining key recommendations on proposed amendments to the Excise Tax Act and Fiscal Penal Code. The amendments introduce taxes on multi-use and disposable vaping devices, raise excise on e-cigarette liquids to curb affordability, especially for young people, and align the law with EU regulations. Changes are set to take effect on July 1, 2025.

AmCham’s position paper, submitted during public consultations, presents its members’ concerns and suggestions, including:

1. Limiting the scope of the draft bill to disposable e-cigarettes and integrating it with other excise legislation currently under way . AmCham proposes  to focus exclusively on disposable e-cigarettes, which the Ministry of Finance identifies as a growing concern among young users. By combining the provisions of the draft bill with the ongoing legislative process of the draft bill amending the act on excise duty and certain other acts, this measure could be enacted more swiftly, reducing access to these products among minors. Additionally, this would eliminate the need for European Commission notification, expediting the process.
2. Extending the adjustment period.  AmCham requests a minimum six-month period for businesses to comply with the new excise marking requirements, as the current three-month timeline is too short for companies to adapt.
3. Merging the project with other tobacco legislation, in particular the new draft bill covering nicotine pouches, to increase the regulatory consistency.
4. Consultation Conference.  AmCham called for a consultation conference to clarify any issues and ensure the proposed changes account for both health and economic impacts.

AmCham position paper is available here.

5. AmCham EU Delegation Ahead of the Polish Presidency 

AmCham EU delegation from Brussels visited Warsaw on October 1-3, 2024. It was headed by Chairman Liam Benham of Boeing and CEO Susan Danger. The delegation included members of industry committees, representing Moody’s, JP Morgan, Meta, Amazon, Interdigital, Relx, Qualcomm, Exxonmobil, GE Healthcare and MSD.

The purpose of the delegation was to engage in a dialogue with Polish government representatives on the priorities of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The delegates, along with AmCham Poland representatives, took part in several meetings, including meetings with the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, Ministry of State Assets, and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. During the meetings, we discussed the plans of decision-makers for the Presidency and presented the issues most relevant from the point of view of American investors. One of the main topics of conversations was the political and legislative priorities of the various ministries for the Presidency. Representatives from all ministries stressed the importance of transatlantic cooperation, foreign investment, raising Europe’s competitiveness, and the role of American investors in rebuilding Ukraine.

The next step is preparing recommendations to the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union to share with the Polish government. The aim of the document is to provide concrete input and direction to the Presidency’s work program.

6. Deregulation Bill

Work on the Deregulation Bill is underway. The draft law being prepared by the Ministry of Development and Technology on amending certain laws to deregulate economic and administrative law and improve the rules for drafting economic law addresses many of the postulates supported by AmCham, such as the principle of one in, one out in terms of administrative duties and a minimum 6-month vacatio legis for economic regulations.

AmCham’s Legal & Public Policy team attended consultation conference on the draft was held at the Ministry of Development headquarters. During the meeting, representatives of the ministry expressed openness to further work on deregulation and improving the business environment, including in the more favorable shaping of reliefs for research and development activities. This issue was raised in AmCham’s comments on the draft submitted during public consultations. AmCham’s position on the Deregulation Bill can be found here.

7. Law on Certification of Public Procurement Contractors 

AmCham’s Legal & Public Policy team attended a consultation conference regarding a draft bill on certification of public procurement contractors and amendments to certain other laws which was the next step in working on the new law. The proposed law on certification of public procurement contractors provides for introducing a certification system in public procurement procedures into Polish law and affects all investors operating in Poland that are parts of public contracts or willing to participate in public procurement procedure.

The bill will directly improve the situation for all entities seeking public procurement in Poland, including foreign investors, by reducing the administrative burden and lowering the cost of participation in procurement procedures.

Discussions during the conference focused on the planned legal status of the certificates envisaged by the Act, as well as the details of the implementation into the Polish legal order of the CJEU judgment of September 7, 2023, in case C-601/21, in which the Court ruled on the incompatibility with the EU law of the exclusion of the application of the public procurement procedure to the award of contracts for the manufacture of blank public documents, excise stamps and election ballots. AmCham’s position on the Law on certification of public procurement contractors is available here.