| In Principle

Sustainable finance is an approach that links financial issues with care for the environment, society, and corporate ethics. In Poland, the development of sustainable finance will continue to be handled by the Sustainable Finance Platform.

In clinical trials, a standard practice is that the sponsor, i.e. the entity responsible for undertaking the clinical trial, managing it and arranging for its funding, does not have access to data directly identifying the study participants. Typically, the patients’ data reach the sponsor in pseudonymised form. Thus sometimes sponsors assume that since they are only processing pseudonymised data of clinical trial participants, they are not subject to the GDPR. Nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed, pseudonymisation poses additional challenges for sponsors as data controllers.

Donald Trump has caused uproar in Europe by his comments that the US under his lead would not come to the rescue of NATO states that are not contributing enough financially to NATO’s defence capacity. This is not the first time he has said such things, and he made similar suggestions when he was the sitting president. This time he added some unhinged and provocative comments about how he would actually encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell it wants” with non-paying NATO member states. But leaving aside this appalling style and all antipathies, let’s consider if he has a point in law.

Can the outgoing government’s “digging in” at state institutions be compared to the actions of a company’s management board abusing their powers, in their own interest, to keep the shareholders from transferring control of the company to a new investor? And if so, does the Polish Constitution ban such actions by holders of public authority, just as private law bans such actions by the management board (or anyone else acting in a fiduciary capacity)?

The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) definitely stands out from other public administrative bodies in the number of interventions it carries out and the decisions it issues, as well as its impact on the behaviour of market participants. The regulator’s activity constantly attracts media and public interest. This makes it particularly worthwhile for businesses to be aware of the regulator’s agenda for this year.

The EU’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation entered into force in July 2023. The first case in which the European Commission will decide what impact non-EU financial support has on the EU procurement market involves a Chinese bidder for a public contract in Bulgaria.

Facilitation of the process of obtaining an EU Blue Card in Poland, and digitalisation of the application procedure for granting residence permits, is provided for in a bill to amend the Foreigners Act.

 

In determining the parties to administrative proceedings, the authority is bound by the entry of rights in the land and mortgage register. It is presumed that a right disclosed in the land and mortgage register is entered in accordance with the actual legal status. It is also presumed that a cancelled right does not exist. The practice shows that invoking a undisclosed right usually will not rebut these presumptions. But the situation is different with an undisclosed right whose existence can be inferred from other entries in the land and mortgage register.

New rules for payment of court fees on requests for conciliation in Polish civil proceedings have been in effect since 28 September 2023. The parliament has heavily reduced the fees to make the institution more attractive, after it ceased to interrupt the limitations period but only suspends it.

One of the challenges facing real estate companies is the limitation of claiming tax costs for depreciation on real estate, effective from 2022. Sometimes, the only way out will be tax litigation.

The minimum tax on income from buildings in Poland was reinstated as of 2022, and the reinstatement brought with it a return of interpretive doubts making it difficult for taxpayers to apply the tax. These doubts include whether hotel services are covered by the minimum tax, and whether depreciation deductions on buildings and income from common areas should be factored in when calculating the tax.

Pursuant to the 7 July 2023 amendment to the Spatial Planning and Development Act, the zoning study will be superseded by a master plan and commune development strategy. The provision imposing an obligation on communes to adopt a development strategy enters into force on 1 January 2026. Introduction of master plans is intended to vest more power in local governments in Poland in establishing policies for land use and development.