Legislative deadlock

When in July Jarosław Kaczyński took over the Prime Minister's portfolio from Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, he said the legislative process would speed up considerably. The person meant to keep a close eye on the matter was Przemysław Gosiewski, who was nominated as the head of the standing committee in the PM's Chancellery.

"As of today, we've passed 42 bills, 36 ordinances and 71 other documents. We are pretty advanced considering it's the post-vacation period," Gosiewski told Gazeta Wyborcza.

However, among the bills pushed forward there's no sign of the public finance bill or the long-awaited business activity act, which, as PiS promised in the electoral campaign, would be the party's priority. The draft of the so-called business constitution has already been changed three times, and entrepreneurs still haven't seen any  benefits, such as the one-stop shop for setting up a business or allowing seasonal firms to suspend business activity during off periods.

The Chancellery of the Council of Ministers was expected to adopt the constitution in June, but never did. The draft was to reappear on the agenda a week ago, but it was sent away for more consultations. The government's press office could not confirm when exactly it will be reviewed by the Ministers again.

Meanwhile, in the latest edition of the World Bank report Doing Business. How to Reform, which rates the business activity regulations in 175 countries, Poland fell one more position, from 74th to 75th place. The report considers such criteria as the ease of starting a business, enforcing contracts or employing workers. Poland rated worst among all the new EU member states.