Busting barriers

The program, called 'Employer Friendly State', hopes to identify and suggest remedies for major obstacles facing entrepreneurs.

Andrzej Malinowski, president of KPP, says that young people are not interested in setting up their own businesses because Polish law is unintelligible and repressive and, along with bureaucracy, it paralyzes business. "We want to change that. Otherwise we will not stop the growing wave of economic emigration," says Malinowski.

The Employer Friendly State Program (PPP) has launched a website, www.programppp.pl, and an infoline on 0502 800 888 where entrepreneurs are invited to take advantage of free legal advice and report all mistakes they see in the law. As a part of the program, the organization will also hold a seminar on June 29, when it will present areas that require the immediate attention of legislators.

The confederation argues that immediate action is necessary, as the number of new companies registered each year is dropping. The Doing Business 2005 Report shows that Poland is ranked in 52nd position in terms of business facilitation - for example, it takes 1,000 days to collect a debt compared to 620 days in Slovakia. Each business makes 43 tax payments a year compared to the average of 15 for EU countries and just one in China. Currently more than 40 different institutions can audit companies' activities.