ASSESSMENT LOBBY RULES/POLAND

Poland

• Mandatory
• Narrow definition
• Definition covers only professional lobbyists. 
• Separate registers for Upper House, Lower House and Government. Only Parliament register available online with 19 lobbyists. No effort is done for enforcement of current registers. Neither Upper House and Government register can be located
• Register of lobbyists: Scope Legislative and Exeecutive branches
• Categories: Cannot locate register but categories in law are identification
• Limited information provided. Public accessto register.

Recommendation

Strengthen the existing integrity rules by introducing lobbying rules and a standardized online system for asset declaration of public officials and members of Parliament. 

Note

The Association of Professional Lobbyists in Poland (APLP) was created in 2003 and adopted a code of Ethics based on international best practices. Also, APLP was very active during the parliamentary discussions that led to the adoption of Polandʼs law on lobbying introduced in 2005. This law applies only to the activities of professional lobbyists and requires that each stakeholder wishing to submit opinions in the legislative process has to fill a special questionnaire, register at the Ministry of Administration and Digitization, and present a certificate of registration whenever contacting a politician or representative of the public administration. Furthermore, public officials have to report whenever they contact with professional lobbyists, including their level of influence on the decisions made by the public body. Lobbying is defined as any action carried out through legal means to influence public authorities in the legislative process. Failure to register as a lobbying entity results in fines of between 750€ and 12,500€. The law only applies to professional lobbyists and excludes all other categories of individuals or legal entities such as representatives of organisations or associations. There has been an extensive debate on how the law should be improved, amid complaints that it imposes excessive reporting requirements on public authorities, arguably making them reticent to establish contacts with registered lobbyists.