Warsaw Insight #2 - key policy developments in Poland
1.
2. Welcome to the second edition of MSLGROUP’s
Warsaw Insight. We present this to you with the
idea that the knowledge and insights about the
legislative, regulatory, and leadership changes in
the Polish government and European Union are
worth knowing. This newsletter is not meant to be
exhaustive. Instead, it seeks to provide summary
and updates affecting the market and thus, your
business. We generate this information via our
daily work at MSLGROUP and feel that such infor-
mation has a value to our clients and the market
overall.
For MSLGROUP, understanding the markets within
which we operate is a guiding principle. There-
fore, we believe that our Warsaw Insight will de-
liver you a valuable source of knowledge, infor-
mation, and news. We present to you the Warsaw
Insight with hope that it meets your expectations.
If you need additional information regarding our
services, we would be more than happy to talk to
you.
MSLGROUP Poland, Public Affairs Team
The ongoing election campaign is the hot topic in
politics, but Poles do not seem to be interested
in it. It is expected that only about 20% of voters
will take part in elections.
According to current polls (Homo Homini, April
23rd), the two leading parties have almost equal
support: Civic Platform (PO, 31%) and Law and
Justice (PiS, 30%) - each would receive 17 seats
in the European Parliament. The third most pop-
ular party, Left (SLD, 13%) would take 7 seats,
and the current coalition party of PSL (with 7%
would take 4 seats). A coalition of Janusz Palikot
and former president Aleksander Kwasniewski
is 5th (3 seats with 6%), and the last – the pop-
ulist liberals of Janusz Korwin-Mikke (3 places
with 5% of support). Neither of the two small
conservative parties - Zbigniew Ziobro’s Solidar-
na Polska and Polska Razem of Jarosław Gowin,
nor the nationalistic Ruch Narodowy (1%) are ex-
pected to garner enough votes to earn a seat at
the European Parliament.
The main political topic not associated with the
election is the energy security of Poland, especial-
ly within the context of Central and Eastern Eu-
ropean countries’ dependence on Russia. Poland
is attempting to create a pan-European, energy
coalition that would force Russia to treat all EU
partners equally regarding gas and oil purchases.
Additionally, due to ongoing discussions on mov-
ing to a greater proportion of green energy, PM
Donald Tusk continually confirms the importance
of coal in our industry and focuses on supporting
the mining industry that is currently having prob-
lems with the non-competitive prices of Polish
coal. The increase of Poland’s role at an inter-
national level clearly strengthens support for the
ruling Civic Platform, that - after many months of
losing polling numbers to Law and Justice, is once
again back on top.
April was also the first month when Poles had the
chance to decide whether to stay in the state-sup-
ported pension system (ZUS) or to partially go
back to private pension funds (OFEs). Of the 14
million people in the system, less than 60,000 so
far have decided to sign a contract with OFEs.
This is a great success for the government as they
managed, without major protests from the pub-
lic, to revert pension system reforms introduced
15 years ago.
Lukasz Jachowicz, Head of Public Affairs
MSLGROUP Poland
lukasz.jachowicz@mslgroup.com
@ljachowicz
3. ul. Domaniewska 42
02-672 Warszawa
T: +48 22 278 38 00
F: +48 22 278 38 74
Governmental representative, Hanna Tro-
janowska, has completed her work as the Pol-
ish Government’s Plenipotentiary for Nuclear
Energy. For the last five years, Ms. Trojanows-
ka was responsible for the overall development
and implementation of nuclear energy in Po-
land. As part of her duties, she prepared and
submitted Polish Nuclear Power Program (PPEJ)
to the Council of Ministers. The document was
adopted by the government on January 28.
April 11
The Minister of Education removed Piotr Dmo-
chowski-Lipski from the position of Director of the
Centre for the Development of Education (ORE)
in Warsaw. The duties of the Director of the Cen-
tre for the Development of Education in Warsaw
have been entrusted to Aleksandra Zawłocka
since May 8.
In June, the terms of the current Warsaw Stock Ex-
change authorities will end and the next CEO will
be indicated by the Minister of Treasury. Possible
candidates are: Adam Maciejewski (current CEO
of WSE), Paweł Tamborski (Undersecretary of the
Ministry of Treasury), Wiesław Rozłucki (co-found-
er of Warsaw Stock Exchange and its first presi-
dent in 1991-2006).
The Supervisory Board of PGNiG appointed Walde-
mar Wójcik as a member of the Board following
his election by the employees of the company.
Wójcik is a graduate of the Academy of Mining and
Metallurgy in Krakow. He has been associated with
PGNiG since 1981, and from 1994-1996 he was
elected as a member of the works council of the
company. From January 2009 to August 2010, he
served as Vice President of the Management Board
of PGNiG for oil mining. In September 2010, he
was a member of the board of Polish Oil and Gas
Company Libya.
April 10
Jakub Jaworowski has been nominated for the po-
sition of Secretary of State in the Chancellery of
the Prime Minister and the Secretary of the Eco-
nomic Council. Jaworowski is a Warsaw School of
Economics graduate and also studied finance at
the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz as
part of the Polish-German Academics’ Forum. He
holds a Master’s degree in history from the Uni-
versity of Warsaw. Jaworowski was the macro-
economic correspondent for Reuters in Warsaw
(2006-2011), an economist at BPH Bank (2011) and
starting from 2012, was Counsellor at the Office
of the Economic Council to the Prime Minister and
at Department of Strategic Analyses. He is also a
candidate in the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
program.
March 25
4. Parliament adopted the draft law on oil and liq-
uid fuels reserves. It assumes a partial takeover
of entrepreneurs’ obligations to create and main-
tain reserves of oil and fuel with the public entity
(Agency for Material Reserves). This will allow do-
mestic enterprises in the oil sector to significantly
reduce operating costs. April 24
The Council of Ministers adopted a resolution on
the adoption of the strategy, “Energy Security
and the Environment - the perspective of 2020.”
The strategy for Energy Security and Environment
(BEIŚ) includes two important areas: energy and
the environment, and identifies the key reforms
and necessary steps that should be taken by 2020
to meet the main objectives of the Energy Securi-
ty Strategy and the Environment. The goal of this
resolution is to provide a high quality of life for
present and future generations, taking into ac-
count environmental protection and the creation
of conditions for sustainable development of a
modern energy sector so that it is able to provide
for Poland’s energy security and a competitive
and efficient economy. April 15
The creation of a new support system based on an
auction system, the simplifying of licensing pro-
cedures, the introduction of “Prosument” energy
production, as well as the possibility of produc-
ing energy from renewable sources for users own
needs are the main objectives of the Act on Re-
newable Energy Sources (RES). The document was
adopted by the Council of Ministers on April 8.
The Prime Minister presented a plan to reduce the
European Union’s energy dependency. It concerns:
joint negotiation of new contracts with external
suppliers, strengthening solidarity between the
Members in the event of supply disruption, en-
ergy infrastructure, including cross-border con-
nections, interconnectors and storage and is to
be financed from the EU to an acceptable level
- 70%. It also includes: the full use of available
European sources of fossil fuels, while respecting
the environment, imports of oil and gas to the EU
from other partners, especially the United States,
ensuring the energy security of the EU neighbors,
and strengthening the energy community includ-
ing the Balkan countries, Ukraine and Moldova.
April 1
The freedom of speech, privacy, and the availabil-
ity of networks - these are some of the global In-
ternet governance principles adopted in the final
document known as NetMundial Multistakeholder
Statement. Rafał Trzaskowski was present during
NetMundial, a two-day meeting in Brazil. April 25
In connection with the EU legislative process of
the draft regulation on the European single digital
market, the Ministry of Administration and Digiti-
zation offered a consultative meeting on April 17.
The theme was on net neutrality and professional
services. An important context of the meeting was
the position of the European Parliament which
was adopted on April 3. April 25
The Parliamentary Committee on European Union
Affairs was briefed by the Minister of Administra-
tion and Digitization Rafał Trzaskowski on the Eu-
ropean Commission communication on the func-
tioning of the safe transfer of personal data to
the United States (“Safe Harbour”). In July 2013,
the European Commission concluded that the Safe
Harbour may constitute a breach of EU rules on
personal data protection, especially in the con-
text of spyware such as PRISM. The most serious
ul. Domaniewska 42
02-672 Warszawa
T: +48 22 278 38 00
F: +48 22 278 38 74
5. The construction of Kormoran II, the Polish mine
destroyer, has begun. Ships of this type will be
used by the Navy in the Baltic and North Seas. The
contract was concluded in Gdynia, Poland on Sep-
tember 23, 2013 in the presence of the Minister of
Defense and Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Construc-
tion of the first unit is to be completed in 2016,
and the Navy will receive next models respective-
ly in 2019 and 2022. Fulfilling the PLN 1.2 billion
contract is a consortium under the leadership of
the Grupa Remontowa. It consists of the Stocznia
Marynarki Wojennej, Centrum Techniki Morskiej
and Centrum Techniki Okrętowej. April 28
President of Poland Bronisław Komorowski signed
a decision on the use of Polish military contingents
in the European Union military operation in the
Central African Republic. The mission will take
place from 1 May to 31 October. The provision re-
lates to the involvement of around 50 soldiers and
military employees. April 24
On Friday at the headquarters of the General
Command of the Armed Forces, President of Po-
land Bronislaw Komorowski signed a decision on
the use of a Polish military contingent - composed
of allied forces from the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization – for a military surveillance mission
over the airspace of the Republics of Estonia, Lith-
uania, and Latvia. April 10
The Subcommittee on Emergency chaired by Ms.
Renata Butryn ended work on the official draft of
the Offset Act on Thursday, April 3. The new offset
law transfers the responsibility for entering into
similar agreements from the Ministry of Economy
to the Ministry of Defence and simplifies proce-
dures. It also increases the responsibility of the
foreign supplier in respect of non-compliance.
Minister of Defense Tomasz Siemoniak visited
United States, where he met with secretary of de-
fense, Chuck Hagel. After the meeting, Mr Siemo-
niak underlined that Poland is finalizing the issues
regarding defense export licenses for acquiring
Lockheed Martin’s JASSM missile. Furthermore,
Mr Hagel agreed for the Solidarity & Partnership
program that will be a basis for wide PL-USA mili-
tary cooperation and a major military presence of
USA in Poland.
The Committee of the Council of Ministers accept-
ed the draft law on reverse mortgages, submitted
by the Minister of Finance. It will be a special type
of credit, allowing banks to provide funds which
will be repaid only after the death of the borrow-
er in exchange for protection laid down by him on
the property, to which he has referred to his rights
(ownership, co-ownership, cooperative ownership
right to the premises, and the right of perpetual
usufruct land). April 29.
In connection with the issuance of new recom-
mendations by the ECOFIN in December 2013, as-
suming the elimination of the excessive deficit in
2015 and the need to inform the European Com-
mission and the ECOFIN at least every six months
on progress in the implementation of the recom-
mendations, the Ministry of Finance has prepared
Information on the actions taken by Poland to
implement the recommendations of the Council
objection is that the Federal Trade Commission
does not enforce compliance with the rules of the
program. April 11
The final cancelation of roaming charges for calls,
text messages and retail data transfer by the end
of 2015. This is the most important message for
consumers coming from the European Parliament
in Poland and throughout Europe. MEPs adopted
the position of the Telecommunication package.
April 3
The President signed the law on public collections
via the internet. Now citizens themselves will de-
cide the purpose for which donations are collect-
ed. April 1
The Ministry of Administration and Digitization
conducted a meeting with representatives from
copyright holders, the IT sector and NGOs on the
implementation of the e-services directive (esp.
the notice & takedown procedure). The minister
asked for a compromise between all interested
parties before works on amending the current leg-
islation continue.
6. tivity, submitted by the Minister of Economy. En-
trepreneurs from EU providing goods to the Polish
market will not have to post the address of Pol-
ish distributor on the package. This solution will
save entrepreneurs who do not have to change the
labeling of the product (or its packaging) about
PLN 70 million per year. With lower costs of bring-
ing goods to the Polish market, it enriches their
offers to the domestic market. The new regula-
tion is to apply from 1 January 2015. April 15.
within the framework of the excessive deficit pro-
cedureforPolish.InformationwassentonApril15to
the European Commission and the ECOFIN. April 16
Improving tax compliance and effectiveness
of tax administration and fiscal control are
the most important areas for action in the
field of taxation, which presented the Minis-
ter of Finance Mateusz Szczurek April 15 during
a press conference at the Ministry of Finance.
The Council of Ministers adopted a draft law
amending the Law on Freedom of Economic Ac-
The next session of Senate will be held on the 21st and 22nd of May.
European Parliament elections will take place on May 25th, 2014.
Presidential elections in Ukraine will take place on May 25th, 2014.
The next session of Sejm (Lower House of Parliament) will be held on the 28th, 29th,
and 30th of May, 2014.
On May 31 Switzerland will no longer be authorized to limit the number of immi-
grants from certain European countries. Countries whose nationals will no longer be
subjected to limits in accordance with the principles of free movement of people
are among others: Poland, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic,
and Slovakia.
7. MSLGROUP is one of the oldest public relations agencies on the Polish market. Every day,
our team provides companies, organizations and institutions with advice regarding their rep-
utation and image. We are close to business and we perfectly know present communication
challenges. Our rich output and highest quality of services won us Impactor 2010 and 2011
awards for the Agency of the Year.
We are part of the Publicis Groupe – third largest global marketing communication network
offering services in the fields of public relations, public affairs, Internet and social media
communication, corporate communication and event marketing. MSLGROUP has offices in
over 80 countries, including partner agencies. It works on the territory of America, Central
and Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia. MSLGROUP consists of market leading corporate and fi-
nancial communications agencies including Kekst & Company, JKL, QORVIS, CNC and Publicis
Consultants, as well as digital marketing experts and design agency, SAS.
We perceive public affairs activities as a complex communication challenge. We know that
nowadays decisions are made not only in the privacy of ministerial offices, and their final
shape is largely shaped by, for example, grassroots civil initiatives or social media.
For each client we develop a comprehensive tailored strategy, adapted to his needs, expec-
tations and capacities. Among others, our activities include lobbing, media relations and
activities in electronic media. Their purpose is to shape public opinion, attract attention to
a specific issue, promote certain law regulations, build reputation and solve crisis situations.
High ethical standards underlie all our activities. We are entered as a professional body en-
gaged in lobbying activities in the register of the Ministry of Interior and Administration. We
act accordingly to the Code of Good Practices of the Polish Public Relations Consultancies
Association (ZFPRR).
In the frame of the Public Affairs we offer the following services:
• Analysis of the environment in which our clients operate,
• Identification of stakeholders and creation of a map of influence,
• Polish and EU legislative process monitoring,
Copyright (c) by MSLGROUP Poland Sp. z o.o. 2014
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CONTACT:
CEO Corporate & Financial Communications
Paweł Tomczuk
Tel. +48 600 489 609
e: pawel.tomczuk@mslgroup.com
Head of Public Affairs
Łukasz Jachowicz
Tel. +48 601 416 560
e: lukasz.jachowicz@mslgroup.com
Governmental Affairs Practice Leader
Małgorzata Dworzynska
Tel. +48 605 296 457
e: malgorzata.dworzynska@mslgroup.com
Associate Public Affairs
Jakub Olek
Tel. +48 606 319 500
e: jakub.olek@mslgroup.com