Entrepreneurs' waiting game

Entrepreneurs' impatience could be forgiven. The act, which was originally expected to be taken up in June, and then put on the back-burner, was shelved again this week as Law and Justice focused on damage control in the wake of last month's political crises and scrambled to find new coalition partners.

The bill, which was promised by PiS during last year's parliamentary campaign, contains important provisions for freeing up business activity in Poland, including making the establishment of a company far less complicated and time consuming than it is now, and setting more sensible tax regulations for seasonal businesses that only operate during part of the year. The regulations are badly needed, as the World Bank rates Poland's business climate third lowest in the EU, and lowest out of all new EU member states, with whom Poland competes for much-coveted foreign investment dollars.

Certainly the ruling party will cite recent political events as the reason for the delay, but this is no excuse. Over the past year, PiS has had plenty of time to push through the business-friendly regulations it promised. Indeed, it has managed to pass some of the most controversial legislation in recent years, and re-mold some of the state's most powerful institutions. Surely by now it could have found enough common ground in the Sejm to pass its touted one-stop shop for business registration.

The government's record shows that improving Poland's business climate was never a priority, regardless of its pre-election rhetoric. As it tries to cling to power, such legislation has been shoved even further to the margins. Thus, despite the urgent need for more sensible business regulations, Poland will once again be forced to wait.