Lobbying for change
Law and Justice swept to power last autumn on the back of promises to eliminate the "cancer of corruption" that has "infected public life." Now, on the eve of both the establishment of the Central Anticorruption Bureau and the introduction of the Lobbying Act, lawmakers and business groups are questioning whether these measures will clean up the engine of Polish politics or make it easier for the country's grafters to grease their palms.
A recent opinion poll conducted by CBM Indicator shows that 51 percent of Poles associate lobbying with an "unclear" or "dishonest" way of doing business, and 42 percent of respondents say lobbying is just another name for corruption. Some 40 percent believe lobbying should be completely forbidden.
It's easy to understand why Poles might feel that way. Several recent cases - most notably the Rywingate scandal and the case of Marek Dochnal, a self-styled lobbyist jailed for bribery - have tainted the notion of lobbying for Poles, though in many other democratic nations the practice is an established institution.
A clean sweep
Law and Justice (PiS) swept to power last year with its promises to clean up the state. In the early days of January this year, the Council of Ministers approved a draft of the Central Anticorruption Bureau Act. That paved the way for the creation of the Central Anticorruption Bureau (CBA), which will be able to make use of the same powers as Poland's special services in its mission to uncover abuses of power in state and local institutions and fight corruption in the state administration's dealings with the business community.
Although the CBA has not yet come into being, the institution already has many opponents who do not see the need to create another investigative office. "If the law is not observed, there are institutions, such as the prosecutor's office, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBŚ), the Agency of Interior Security (ABW) and others, to prosecute," says the director of the Lobbying Institute at the Business Center Club, Tomasz Uchman.
Critics also fear that the CBA's powers could be easily abused. "An institution with such powers may become an instrument to influence political opponents' attitudes according to the expectations of the ruling party," says Grzegorz Dolniak, Civic Platform's (PO) parliamentary whip.
Grażyna Kopińska, the anticorruption program director at the Stefan Batory Foundation, worries that the scope of the CBA's investigations in economic affairs is not specified. "This [scope] can be easily extended. With the powers that the CBA will have, it could go too far," she adds.
However, Minister Mariusz Kamiński, the man responsible for establishing the CBA, pledges that the bureau will not be a politicized institution, and will only focus on fighting all kinds of corruption and anomalies. "Political party membership will not matter here," he says.
Lobby law
The CBA is not the only instrument the government has in mind for monitoring dealings between politicians and businessmen. On March 7, Poland's new Lobbying Act will come into force. According to the act, lobbying is defined as using legal means to influence legislative authorities in the process of making laws, and also introduces the notion of professional lobbying. The act requires companies and individuals providing professional lobbying services to register with the Ministry of Interior and Administration. If they fail to do so, they can be fined from zł.3,000 to zł.50,000, depending on the "importance" of the law they took part in influencing.
The act obligates all authorities preparing legislative drafts (the Council of Ministers, the President of the Council of Ministers and the various Ministries) to publish a program of legislative works in the Public Information Bulletin (BIP) on the internet every six months. After the publication, any lobby will have the opportunity to show their interest in a specific law by presenting their opinions during a 'public hearing'. Finally, the legislative authority will have to inform the lobbies why their initiatives were accepted or rejected.
However, industry experts say the new lobbying law has many defects.
Evading the subject
Kopińska sees potential problems in the legislative process. "It will be easier to influence the shape of an act during legislative works in the government. When a draft reaches parliament, the Sejm doesn't have to organize the public hearing," says Kopińska.
The Lobbying Act also obliges officials to report all contact with lobbyists and lobby organizations. Considering the number of such meetings, some argue that keeping track of these reports would be impossible. However, Ludwik Dorn, the Minister of the Interior and Administration, refutes those arguments. "Such contacts should take place on official [government] premises and then a short note and a photograph are enough. This already happens. For example, when General Marek Bieńkowski was invited by Jan Kulczyk to the Polish Business Roundtable, he immediately refused and made an official report," says Dorn.
The Batory Foundation's Kopińska still believes that officials will either produce reports that say nothing or avoid making contact with business altogether, fearing accusations of corruption. Marek Zagórski, a former member of the Special Sejm Committee which examined the government's draft, agrees. "Even the reports of the meetings will not prevent accusations. This can cause reluctance to make any contacts. This will result in the creation of a law that doesn't meet needs or expectations," says Zagórski.
Some also voice concerns that some of the regulations within the Lobbying Act could be easily evaded, but Grzegorz Dolniak, former Chairman of the Sejm Special Committee, defends the measure: "If such opinions exist, the act will fail. There is no perfect regulation that would be 100-percent effective. Besides making the law, there is its execution, and now everyone, first of all the deputies, are obliged to observe the regulations. The success of the act depends on how it is respected."
Everyone's a lobbyist
It is difficult to distinguish what is lobbying and what is not. Everyone agrees that lobbying is connected with politicians, public administration and business, and even Dorn believes businessmen should be allowed to contact lawmakers: "They are regular citizens, not second-class ones." On the other hand, many argue that if all attempts to influence the decisions of politicians and other officials were regarded as lobbying, just about everyone could be considered a lobbyist.
The Business Center Club's Uchman says the Lobbying Act doesn't answer these concerns, but instead proves again that in Poland things are started from the wrong end, arguing that the bill should have been written by someone outside of government. "Since the Ministry of the Interior and Administration prepared the draft of the Lobbying Act, something seems out of order here from the very beginning," says Uchman.
"They were aiming to penalize - and not civilize - such an important instrument of citizens' influence on authorities," says Witold Michałek, director of Unilob, a consulting and lobbying company. "It's easy to notice that in Poland lobbying is considered an action intimately connected with breaking the law or at least being on the verge of it."
A change in attitude
Dolniak, Uchman and Dorn say the act is satisfactory considering the fact that lobbying is extremely difficult to regulate. But besides the regulation, experts say that what Poles need is a psychological change in their attitude towards lobbying. Currently, there are only a few lobbying companies that openly admit offering such services.
Unilob's Michałek believes that Poland's young democracy and underdeveloped political scene might be one of the reasons for lobbyists' poor image in Poland. "The law is not made by infallible wise men but is an average of certain options, ideas. Therefore, there is a need for a forum where these ideas are confronted and discussed, and there is a need for people who have the skill to do it," says Michałek.
Kopińska says the Central Anticorruption Bureau is the result of the same type of inexperience. "I see a sense in the existence of the special anticorruption institutions but if we want them to be effective it is not enough to prosecute, and they have to be independent from political parties," she adds.
According to Kopińska, there is a three-stage solution to the problem. First, she says a national educational campaign among all citizens is needed to explain how to do business without bribes, as well as what to do when offered a bribe. It should show that corruption is harmful to individuals as well as to the economy, and that true lobbying has nothing to do with corruption. Secondly, she recommends a thorough examination of the law, codes and regulations, and amending those that favor corruption. She sees prosecution of those violating lobbying regulations as the final stage, after the public has a better understanding of lobbyists' function in society.
