Author: kancelaria

REASON FOR INTRODUCTION

 

The recommendations of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKIK) concerning labelling of promotional content by influencers on social media were developed in order to organise the market for sponsored content on social media, so that internet users get a clear message as to what is an advertisement and what is an objective product review.

 

NEW DEFINITIONS

 

The recommendations of the President of UOKIK include terms that have not been legally defined or whose definitions needed to be updated to fit the discussed issues, i.e.:

 

• Influencer – an author, person operating on the internet, actively running their social media, communicating with their followers. Through their publications they can influence their opinions, decisions or behaviour. An influencer is an entrepreneur if they derive any economic benefit (not only financial) from their online activity and at the same time run an organised business on their own behalf and on a continuous basis. This also applies if the influencer has not registered a business.

 

• Social media – electronically provided services, in particular platforms and websites on which users, after creating an account, can publish content in various forms (text, image, video, audio), as well as add friends or follow other users via a browser or mobile app.

 

• Advertisement – a commercial communication aimed at promoting the sale or paid use of goods or services. Advertisement includes also self-promotion, i.e. the advertising of one’s own products or services. Additionally, commercial communication that is aimed at promoting a brand is also considered an advertisement.

 

• Advertising agencies – entrepreneurs carrying out advertising activities for or on behalf of other entities, which consist in the preparation of an advertisement concept, advertisement management (implementation of the concept, marketing), promotion of products or services. Advertising agencies may also perform other activities, including acting as intermediaries between an advertiser and an influencer (e.g. in sponsorship agreements).

 

• Advertisers – entrepreneurs who order advertising or promotion of their products, services or brands in influencers’ social media in exchange for economic benefits (not only financial).

 

• Observers – people who observe or subscribe to influencers’ social media accounts. The observation does not have to be permanent. They are considered consumers, as their interaction with influencers is not related to their business or professional activity and, based on recommendations and opinions of influencers, they may make decisions regarding, among other things, the purchase of a service or product.

 

LEGAL REGULATIONS

 

Currently, there are no laws that explicitly define the ways in which advertising material should be labelled on social media. However, the law clearly indicates that advertising content must not mislead consumers. With regard to the protection of consumer interests, the following unfair market practices are primarily pointed out:

 

• Misleading omission – Article 6(1) of the Act of 23 August 2007 on counteracting unfair market practices

 

• Surreptitious advertising – Article 7(11) of the Act on counteracting unfair market practices

 

• Act of unfair competition – Article 16(1) item 4 of the Act of 16 April 1993 on counteracting unfair competition

 

COMMERCIAL COOPERATION

 

There are a number of types of commercial cooperation, which differ, among other things, in the way the contract is concluded, the form of remuneration, the advertiser’s impact on the material and the duration of the cooperation. Regardless of these variables, any commercial should be clearly distinguished from neutral information.

 

• Manner of contracting – it does not matter in what form the influencer enters into an agreement with the advertising agency or advertiser for the content to be considered commercial. It is possible to make the relevant arrangements both on paper and during a conversation, email exchange or instant messaging. Under such understood agreement, the influencer receives remuneration in return for publishing commercial content on their social media. In the contract or its annexes, the parties may define the structure and form of the content.

 

• Form of remuneration – it does not matter in what form the influencer receives the economic benefit for the content to be considered commercial. The economic benefit may be in the form of monetary or in-kind remuneration

 

• An increase in sales of the influencer’s own goods or services is also considered a economic benefit.

 

• Advertiser’s impact on the content – it is irrelevant whether the advertiser has any impact on the content for the material to be considered commercial. The advertiser or advertising agency usually sets the requirements for the final structure and form of the publication. They order the influencer to create the material based on a so-called brief or directly accept it before the publication. This must be marked as advertising material. In a situation where neither the advertiser nor the advertising agency has any influence on the material created by the influencer, and the author posts information about a product or service on their social media for remuneration, this should also be marked as advertising material.

 

• Duration of the cooperation – the duration of the cooperation is irrelevant to the recognition of the material presented by the influencer as advertising material.

 

SELF-PROMOTION

 

A special type of commercial content is self-promotion, which is an advertisement of the influencer’s own brand. Self-promotion is when an influencer runs a business or owns shares in a company that is involved in manufacturing, providing services or other activities and advertises it on their social media channels.  Self-promotion also needs to be properly labelled as the advertisement.

 

GIFTS – THE PR PACKAGE

 

The recommendations also recognise communications related to received gifts, i.e. PR packages. These gifts are of small value, the influencer does not have to return them or pay for them. The gifted influencer does not receive a separate remuneration for possible promotion of the gift.  The donor does not have any contract with the influencer in any form and does not order any social media publication about the gift from the influencer. The donor has no influence on the content of the material and does not accept it in any way. It is up to the influencer themselves to decide whether or not to publish the content. If an influencer decides to publish a post on social media about a gift received from a brand, the influencer does not have to label the content as advertising material. It is enough for the influencer to inform their followers that they have received the product as a gift.

 

However, if the brand sends the influencer a PR package again, the influencer is obliged to mark the content regarding such a package as advertising material.

 

METHODS OF LABELLING

 

An author should mark the advertising material they publish in a way that is clear, unambiguous and understandable to any recipient. The labelling should be visible both to their regular observers and to those who become acquainted with their channels for the first time. Observers should be able to recognise the advertising nature of the content at the initial stage of viewing them, on both mobile and desktop devices. An influencer should also inform what brand they are advertising.

 

• In a situation where an influencer is publishing coverage or reviews of an event to which they have received an invitation, they do not need to mark this as advertising material. It is sufficient that they inform their followers that they have received a free invitation. This situation is likely to arise when the material has been created irrespectively of the advertiser’s will and influence.

 

• In a situation where the advertiser has incurred additional costs for the influencer’s participation in the event, the author should marḱ this content as advertising material.
• In a situation where an author receives a product purely for testing in order to post a review on their social media channel and then returns it – they do not need to mark this material as advertising material. It is sufficient that they inform their followers who the product is from and that they received it free of charge and must return it.

 

The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection recommends two-tier labelling, i.e. using both the functionality of the platform and labelling on your own (e.g. in the description, in the photo or video, in the narrative of the material).

 

LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

 

Incorrect labelling of advertising content may have legal consequences for the author. This applies both to liability under the provisions outlined in this section and to recourse liability.

 

The following legal consequences towards entrepreneurs (influencers, advertising agencies, advertisers) are possible:

 

• Public law consequences – the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection may assert the use of a practice that infringes the collective interests of consumers by an entrepreneur who commits unfair market practices. This applies, inter alia, to the misleading omission concerning the labelling of advertising materials or the use of surreptitious advertising

 

• see Article 24 of the Act of 16 February 2007 on Competition and Consumer Protection

 

• Private law consequences:

 

• Consumers against whom an entrepreneur has used an unfair market practice in connection with the labelling of advertising materials may pursue claims set out in Article 12 of the Act on Counteracting Unfair Market Practices

 

• Entrepreneurs (competitors) with regard to the entrepreneur’s use of an act of unfair competition related to advertising may, in particular, pursue claims set out in Article 18 of the Act on Counteracting Unfair Competition

 

• It is worth noting that initiation of public law actions does not exclude the possibility of initiating private law actions (and vice versa). This means that consumers or competitors may individually pursue claims against entrepreneurs, regardless of possible investigation by the President of the Office of Competition of Consumer Protection.

 

 

Can a subsidiary belong to more than one group of companies? Can a company be a subsidiary of two parent entities? We will try to answer these questions in this article.

When analysing the Accounting Act (hereinafter: “the Act”) in the context of groups of companies and the parent entities’ obligation to draw up consolidated statements, a number of issues may require clarification. First and foremost, one should start by reviewing the definitions of a subsidiary, parent entity and group of companies.

Pursuant to Article 3 sec. 1 item 44 of the Act, a group of companies is defined as a parent entity together with its subsidiaries.

Pursuant to Article 3 sec. 1 item 37 of the Act, a parent entity is a commercial company or a state-owned enterprise that controls a subsidiary and, in particular:

1. a) holds, directly or indirectly, the majority of the total number of votes in the subsidiary’s decision-making body, also on the basis of agreements with other entities or persons entitled to vote and exercising their voting rights in accordance with the will of the parent entity, or
2. b) is a shareholder of a subsidiary and is entitled to govern the financial and operating policies of that subsidiary, independently or by persons or entities designated by it on the basis of an agreement concluded with other persons or entities entitled to vote, possessing, on the basis of the articles of association or the company deed, together with the parent entity, the majority of the total number of votes in the decision making body, or
3. c) is a shareholder of a subsidiary and is entitled to appoint and dismiss the majority of members of the management, supervisory or administrative bodies of that subsidiary, or

(d) is a shareholder of a subsidiary whose more than half of the members of the management, supervisory or administrative bodies in the preceding financial year, during the current financial year and until the preparation of the financial statements for the current financial year are persons appointed to perform such functions as a result of the parent entity’s exercise of its voting rights in the bodies of that subsidiary, unless another entity or person has the rights referred to in items (a), (c) or (e) in relation to that subsidiary, or

1. e) is a shareholder of a subsidiary and is entitled to govern the financial and operating policies of that subsidiary, based on an agreement concluded with that subsidiary, or on the articles of association or the company deed of that subsidiary.

On the other hand, a subsidiary is a commercial company or an entity established and operating under foreign commercial law and controlled by the parent entity (Article 3 sec. 1 item 39 of the Act).

In addition, control over another entity is understood as the ability to govern the financial and operating policies of another entity in order to gain economic benefits from its activities.

In view of the above, it can be seen that the legislator does not exclude a subsidiary’s affiliation to more than one groups of companies, and thus, more than one parent entity. For example, in a limited joint-stock partnership, the parent entity could be either the general partner or the shareholder – depending on the wording of the articles of association. Therefore, there can be two parent entities to choose from.

For this reason, the analysis of which company is the parent entity for the subsidiary should be based primarily on reviewing the provisions of the articles of association or the company deed, and the Code of Commercial Companies. If, after the aforementioned analysis, there are still doubts as to the choice of the parent entity, further steps should be taken. In case of doubt, one should consider how the actual state of interdependence in a group of companies is created – perhaps in practice one company governs the financial and operational policies of another entity. Or, maybe a given entity actually has powers that are not directly indicated in the company deed, the articles of association, or in the Code of Commercial Companies. An inquiry about such facts should ultimately dispel any doubts.

 

LEGAL BASIS

As of Saturday, 17 September 2022, the provisions of the Regulation of the Minister of the Interior and Administration (MSWiA) on the records of vehicle drivers violating traffic regulations came into force. The changes include introduction of a maximum penalty of 15 points for the most serious traffic offences. These in particular affect drivers who repeatedly exceed the speed limits and drive under the influence of alcohol.

CANCELLATION OF PENALTY POINTS

Penalty points awarded for violations committed before 17/09/2022 are cancelled as follows:

• after one year has passed from the date of the violation,
• Remember! In two exceptional cases penalty points will not be deleted from your account – if the sum of your temporary penalty points and active penalty points exceeds the limit of 24 points (20 points if it is your first driving licence and you have had it for less than a year),

The issue of penalty points awarded for violations committed on or after 17/09/2022 looks different, as they will be cancelled:

• two years after the date the decision becomes final. If a fine (in the form of a ticket) is imposed for a violation and constitutes the State Budget revenue, or if a ticket is issued by the Road Transport Inspectorate, -> the two-year period starts on the date on which you pay the fine, 
• if a decision on withdrawing your driving licence is made;
• if you are notified of a positive check of your qualifications;
• if the district governor refuses to issue a decision on referring a person for a verification of qualifications or a decision on withdrawing the licence – at the request of the provincial police commander.

THE MSWiA REGULATION LISTS 21 MOST SERIOUS TRAFFIC OFFENCES, FOR WHICH A DRIVER MAY RECEIVE 15 PENALTY POINTS:

The Regulation of the Minister of the Interior and Administration on the records of vehicle drivers violating traffic regulations lists 21 offences for which drivers may receive 15 penalty points at a time. These 21 offences include, among others:

• driving a motor vehicle while drunk, under the influence of alcohol or under the influence of intoxicants;
• failure to offer aid to accident victims;
• bypassing a vehicle that is travelling in the same direction but has stopped to give way to a pedestrian;
• overtaking a vehicle on a pedestrian crossing where traffic is not controlled or immediately before a pedestrian crossing;
• failure to give way to a pedestrian on a pedestrian crossing or a pedestrian entering a pedestrian crossing;
• failure to stop the vehicle when a disabled person using a special sign or a person with evident reduced mobility is crossing the road in order to allow them to cross;
• failure to obey a signal given by a person authorised to control traffic ordering to stop the vehicle, in order to avoid an inspection;
• failure to obey traffic lights;
• failure to obey signals and instructions given by persons authorised to direct traffic and persons authorised to control traffic;
• exceeding the speed limit by more than 70 km/h;
• violating the ban on bypassing lowered barriers or half barriers and entering a crossing when barriers have started to lower or have not been fully lifted;
• carrying more than two children in a vehicle in contravention of the regulations.

RELAPSE

The Regulation of the Minister of the Interior and Administration on the records of vehicle drivers violating traffic regulations also introduces the notion of relapse. After 17 September 2022, drivers who commit the same type of offence again within two years will have to pay a double fine.

Fine rates for speeding relapse:

• for exceeding the speed limit by more than 30 km/h, the fine is PLN 800 (PLN 1,600 in case of relapse);
• for exceeding the speed limit by more than 40 km/h, the fine is PLN 1000 (for repeat offenders – PLN 2000);
• for exceeding the speed limit by more than 50 km/h, the fine is PLN 1500 (for repeat offenders – PLN 3000);
• for exceeding the speed limit by more than 60 km/h, the fine is PLN 2000 (for repeat offenders – PLN 4000);
• for exceeding the speed limit by more than 70 km/h, the fine is PLN 2500 (for repeat offenders – PLN 5000).

Fine rates in case of relapse other than speeding:

• failure to give priority to a pedestrian – first time: PLN 1,500 (relapse – PLN 3,000);
• breaking the ban on overtaking – first time: PLN 1000 (relapse – PLN 2000);
• overtaking on or before a crossing – first time: PLN 1500 (relapse – PLN 3000);
• failure to maintain caution and causing a threat to road traffic safety whose consequence is an injured pedestrian, cyclist, etc. – first time: PLN 1500 (relapse – PLN 3000);
• bypassing a vehicle that has stopped to give way to a pedestrian – first time: PLN 1500 (relapse – PLN 3000);
• entering a railway track while the barriers are lowered, being lowered or not fully lifted – first time: PLN 2000 (relapse – PLN 4000);
• entering a level crossing with a red signal on or when there is no space on the other side to continue driving – first time: PLN 2000 (relapse – PLN 4000);
• driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or another intoxicant – first time: PLN 2500 (relapse – PLN 5000).

CHANGE IN THE NUMBER OF PENALTY POINTS AWARDED FOR SPEEDING:

Until now, no penalty points were awarded to drivers for exceeding the speed limit by no more than 10km/h. The MSWiA Regulation, however, tightens the rules on awarding penalty points for speeding:

• for exceeding the speed limit by up to 10 km/h, drivers will receive 1 penalty point;
• for exceeding the speed limit by 11 to 15 km/h, drivers will receive 2 penalty points;
• for exceeding the speed limit by 16 to 20 km/h, drivers will receive 3 penalty points;
• for exceeding the speed limit by 21 to 25 km/h, drivers will receive 5 penalty points;
• for exceeding the speed limit by 26 to 30 km/h, drivers will receive 7 penalty points;
• for exceeding the speed limit by 31 to 40 km/h, drivers will receive 9 penalty points;
• for exceeding the speed limit by 41 to 50 km/h, drivers will receive 11 penalty points;
• for exceeding the speed limit by 51 to 60 km/h, drivers will receive 13 penalty points;
• for exceeding the speed limit by 61 to 70 km/h, drivers will receive 14 penalty points;
• for exceeding the speed limit by more than 70 km/h, drivers will receive 15 penalty points.

Central Registration And Information On Business (CEIDG) is a digital register of entrepreneurs who conduct business activities in Poland. It currently holds the data of 2.6 million entrepreneurs. They can also manage their affairs online thanks to a cooperation between CEIDG and the Biznes.gov.pl information and service website. By signing into your Entrepreneur Account you can quickly and easily manage your affairs with CEIDG and other services.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a growing demand for managing things online, which in turn caused a boom in e-services. That has resulted in many suggestions both by entrepreneurs and officials to introduce changes related to CEIDG. To improve the digitalisation of CEIDG, the Ministry of Development and Technology has prepared draft amendment of the Central Registration And Information On Business and Information Centre for Entrepreneurs Act. Currently, the draft amendment is under consultations.

The major changes will consist of:

• improvements to the functioning of civil partnerships – creation of a “one-stop” process for registering a civil partnership, i.e., a change from specific applications that had to be submitted with Inland Revenue, Statistics Poland and the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) to a single integrated application,
• comprehensive digitalisation of the process of establishing a business at Biznes.gov.pl, i.e., a departure from filing paper applications during a business registration in CEIDG while retaining support at the Entrepreneur Support Centre,
• enhancement and facilitation of the one-stop CEIDG process – a more comprehensive integration with other public registers and inclusion of company details in the CEIDG register, as well as creation of the option to download an electronic company certificate or an expansion of CEIDG to include a visualisation of address information using a geoportal,
• changes for commercial proxies – enhancements regarding the inclusion of commercial proxy details in CEIDG, in particular for commercial proxies who are not natural persons,
• improvements to regulations regarding bankruptcy trustees, succession administrators, etc.

The Ministry of Development and Technology has recently begun the consultations of the draft amendment. The Ministry welcomes any and all remarks until 19 October 2022.

 

The European Parliament has enacted legislation on minimum pay for workers. This decision was taken by 505 votes in favour to 92 against, with 44 abstentions.

Dennis Radtke (EPP, DE), said after the vote that: “The current situation clearly shows once again that we need a well-functioning, strong social partnership in Europe. Politics cannot give a comprehensive answer to every aspect of this crisis.”

 

The directive sets standards for what an adequate minimum wage should be. These standards will have to be implemented in national laws or complied with through collective bargaining.

The minimum wage in all countries of the European Union is intended to ensure a decent standard of living and working. On the other hand, it is the responsibility of member states to promote wage arrangements through collective bargaining.

In the European Parliament’s opinion, collective bargaining at sectoral and inter-industry level is an important factor in determining adequate minimum wages.  Therefore, they should be supported and promoted pursuant to the provisions of the just adopted Directive.

The new directive will apply to all workers in the EU who work under an employment contract or employment relationship.

Member states, when setting minimum wages, will now have to ensure that such wages provide workers with a decent living, taking into account the cost of living and general wage levels. In order to assess the adequacy of the existing statutory minimum wage, member states can define a national basket of consumer goods and services based on market prices. Or they can set it at 60% of the gross wage median or 50% of the average gross wage.

Importantly, member states where the minimum wage is secured through collective bargaining only, will not have to introduce a statutory minimum wage. Nor will they have to ensure that the Directive’s provisions are generally applicable.

Key changes:

• the minimum wage is to ensure a decent standard of living,
• EU legislation will not affect national wage-setting practices,
• countries where less than 80% of workers are affected by collective bargaining will have to define, in cooperation with their social partners, an action plan to include more workers in such bargaining.
• in case of infringement, workers, their representatives and union members will have a right to seek claims.

The text approved by the members of the European Parliament also provides for EU member states to introduce an enforcement system.  This is to include credible monitoring, checks and inspections. This will ensure compliance with the regulations and combat abusive subcontracting, fictitious self-employment, undeclared overtime and increased rate of work intensity.

It is expected that the Council will officially approve the arrangements in September. Member states will then have two years to implement the directive.

The sudden surge in gas prices has prompted businesses to withhold the production of fertilisers, carbon dioxide and dry ice. Although the production was resumed fairly quickly, the situation could have a serious impact on the agriculture and food and pharmaceutical industries. In addition, companies in other sectors are also announcing production cuts due to the high and still rising gas prices.

These events may translate to disruptions in the supply of carbon dioxide, dry ice and fertilisers, result in problems with the execution of contracts and cause disruptions in many sectors of the economy. Contract defaults can affect both direct customers of companies withholding production, and food wholesalers.

Although a price increase is an uncommon phenomenon, can we talk about force majeure, which would release from liability for non-performance of a contract? If not, then, from the civil law point of view, not treating the price increase as force majeure will mean that contracts are not fulfilled.

In the lawyers’ opinion, force majeure is a sudden and unexpected event that is beyond the limits of human influence. Meanwhile, the phenomenon of gas price increases has already been going on for several months and it is hard to find the situation sudden or completely unpredictable. Moreover, in order to invoke the ongoing armed conflict in Ukraine and the resulting gas price increases, a direct link between the price increases and the hostilities must also be proven.  And this would be difficult, as prices had already started to grow before the war.

In the market economy, the mere increase in prices does not seem to be a sufficient reason to apply extraordinary measures. In the current situation, one can speak of difficulties in the performance of contracts, and not of impossibility of performance. Admittedly, in civil law there is also the possibility of an extraordinary amendment of a contract by the court. Pursuant to Article 357(1) of the Civil Code, “if, due to an extraordinary change of relations, the performance of a service would be connected with excessive difficulties or would pose the risk of a gross loss for one of the parties, which was not foreseen by the parties when concluding the contract, after considering the interests of the parties and in accordance with the principles of social co-existence, the court may determine the manner of performing the obligation, the amount of the service, or even rule on the termination of the contract”. This possibility is referred to as clausula rebus sic stantibus. However, referring to clausula rebus sic stantibus leads to amendment of the contract by the court, which is uncertain and time-consuming.

REASONS FOR THE POPULARITY OF ELECTRIC CARS

In the era of rising car maintenance costs, the looming climate crisis and the announced EU climate package, more and more Poles are deciding to buy an electric car. Another factor that has a positive influence on this decision is the ‘My Electric Car’ programme, whose objective is to avoid air pollution emissions by subsidising projects aimed at reducing the consumption of emission fuels in transport – support for the purchase/lease of zero-emission vehicles.

ASSUMPTIONS OF THE MY ELECTRIC CAR PROGRAMME

The new ‘My Electric Car’ programme, which enables obtaining subsidies for the purchase of electric vehicles, was launched on 12 July 2021. The programme provides for subsidising projects consisting in the purchase of a new vehicle of the M1, N1 and L1e-L7e category powered only by electricity accumulated by connection to an external power source, or electricity generated from hydrogen in fuel cells installed in the vehicle, or propelled only by an engine whose operation cycle does not lead to the emission of greenhouse gases or other substances covered by the greenhouse gas emissions management system referred to in the act of 17 July 2009 on the greenhouse gas emissions and other substances management system.  A new zero-emission vehicle should be understood as a vehicle of the M1, N1 and L1e-L7e category which is brand new and has not been registered before the purchase, or a vehicle purchased and registered by a car dealer, importer or leasing company with the mileage of no more than 50 km.

The programme budget is PLN 700 million. The programme is scheduled to be implemented from 2021 to 2026, and applications will be accepted until 2025 or until the funds are exhausted. The disbursement period will end on 20 June 2026.

WHO CAN BENEFIT FROM THE SUBSIDY AND UNDER WHAT CONDITIONS

First of all, one should answer the question of who will be able to benefit from the programme. The list of entities that can apply for the subsidy has been divided into two categories:

• Category one – natural persons

• Category two – entities other than natural persons, including entrepreneurs:

• Public finance sector entities, within the meaning of the act of 27 August 2009 on public finance (consolidated text: Journal of Laws 2022, item 1634);

• Research institutes, within the meaning of the act of 30 April 2010 on research institutes (consolidated text: Journal of Laws 2022, item 498);

• Entrepreneurs, within the meaning of the act of 6 March 2018 – Enterprise Law (consolidated text: Journal of Laws 2022, item 974);

• Associations, within the meaning of the act of 7 April 1989 – Associations Law (consolidated text: Journal of Laws 2020, item 2261);

• Foundations, within the meaning of the act of 6 April 1984 on foundations (consolidated text: Journal of Laws 2020, item 2167);

• Cooperatives, within the meaning of the act of 16 September 1982 – Cooperative Law (consolidated text: Journal of Laws 2021, item 648);

• Individual farmers, within the meaning of the act of 11 April 2003 on the structuring of the agricultural system (consolidated text: Journal of Laws 2022, item 461);

• Churches and other religious associations and their legal persons; Religious organisations whose legal situation is regulated by the laws on the relationship between the state and churches and other religious associations, operating within such churches and associations.

As far as the substantive conditions for the subsidising are concerned, these are as follows:

1. the subsidy will not be provided for projects the costs of which have been co-financed from national or foreign public funds, in particular from the European Union budget;

2. the purchased/leased zero-emission vehicle must be new;

3. the purchased/leased zero-emission vehicle must be labelled during the programme durability;

4. the durability period is 2 years from the date of the project completion (purchase of the vehicle), while in the case of lease it should be understood as the date of delivering the new vehicle to the beneficiary (Lessee) for use or use and deriving benefits, on the basis of a vehicle delivery report;

5. the co-financed zero-emission vehicle must be registered in the territory of the Republic of Poland for at least 2 years following the project completion date;

6. the zero-emission vehicle must be registered to the vehicle owner, who is the beneficiary of the subsidy under this programme (in the case of lease, the vehicle may be registered to the beneficiary or the leasing company with which the beneficiary is bound by the lease contract);

7. the co-financed zero-emission vehicle must be insured against damage, destruction and loss due to collisions, accidents, third party damage and theft, including third party liability insurance and own-damage motor insurance, at least for the durability period;

8. in the event of a failure to comply with the obligations referred to in items 5 to 7, the subsidy, together with the due interest, is to be returned in accordance with the conditions laid down in the subsidy agreement; the agreement may, in particular, specify the proportion of the repayment and the cases in which the repayment may be waived;
9. the subsidy payment may be conditional on the establishment of a repayment security;

10. the subsidy may be awarded for an undertaking completed before the application submission date, subject to item 13);

11. the subsidy will be paid only in the form of a refund after the purchase of the vehicle, or in the form of a grant for the charges laid down in the lease contracts (initial charge and transfer fee), after signing the vehicle delivery report;

12. if the subsidy relates to a zero-emission vehicle category M2 or M3 and constitutes public aid, the provisions of the Regulation of the Minister of the Environment of 21 December 2015 on detailed conditions for granting horizontal public aid for environmental protection purposes (Journal of Laws item 2250) concerning the aid for investments enabling the reduction of pollution emissions when EU environmental protection standards have not been established will apply;

13. a project consisting in the purchase/lease of an M2 or M3 category vehicle cannot be commenced before the subsidy application submission date. The project commencement should be understood as the conclusion of the contract for the vehicle purchase/lease;

14. if the applicant is a natural person who does not run a business, he/she may receive one subsidy for one zero-emission vehicle;

15. the subsidy for the initial payment and the transfer fee indicated in the zero-emission vehicle lease contract may be granted only if the object of the lease has not previously been subsidised under this programme;

VALUE OF THE SUBSIDY

The value of the subsidy depends on the category of the vehicle purchased:

Category M1:

• subsidy of up to PLN 18,750

OR

• subsidy of up to PLN 27,000, if the average annual mileage declared exceeds 15,000 km

• In addition, when purchasing an M1 category vehicle, please note that the purchase cost of the zero-emission vehicle may not exceed PLN 225,000

Category N1:

• subsidy of up to 20% of the eligible costs, no more than PLN 50,000

OR

• subsidy of up to 30% of the eligible costs, no more than PLN 70,000, if the average annual mileage declared exceeds 20,000 km

Category L1e – L7e:

• subsidy of up to 30% of the eligible costs, no more than PLN 4,000

The amounts indicated above are net amounts for entities entitled to deduct 100% of VAT. This means that if the car will be used for private and business purposes, when 50% of VAT can be deducted, then the prices indicated include the tax to be deducted. For an entrepreneur not entitled to deduct the VAT tax, the quoted prices are gross prices.

It should be mentioned that if the applicant is applying for the co-financing of more than one vehicle, the purchase or lease of each vehicle is treated as a separate project.

BENEFITS FOR ELECTRIC CAR DRIVERS

In order to encourage the Poles to purchase and use electric cars, the government provides support for their drivers through a number of benefits:

• Exemptions from public road tolls,
• Additional parking stands,
• Exemption from excise duty,
• Clean transport zone,
• Higher depreciation limits,
• Right to drive on bus lanes.

The Council of Ministers have adopted a bill amending the National Court Register Act and certain other acts, submitted by the Minister of Justice.

The new provisions are to enter into force as of 1 December 2022. Currently, the bill is in the Sejm.

The purpose of the amendment is to adapt the Polish legislation to the directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the use of digital tools and processes in the companies law.

The draft aims to facilitate the registration and filing of documents with the National Court Register, simplify the online registration of limited liability companies, increase the accessibility of the information contained in the National Court Register on the EU portal and expand the exchange between commercial registers of the European Union member states.

 

PLANNED CHANGES

• facilitated registration and filing of documents with the National Court Register by placing model contracts and information on the rules of company and branch registration in the Public Information Bulletin on the Ministry of Justice’s website, at least in Polish and in another language which is comprehensible to as many foreign users as possible,

• facilitated online registration of limited liability companies through the possibility of settling share payments using an online payment service, 

• increased accessibility to data contained in the National Court Register, increased accessibility of data for foreign users through the register integration system,

• enhanced exchange between registers through the register integration system. This concerns information on changes to the basic data regarding a foreign entrepreneur and on the registration or deletion of a branch. This solution is intended to exempt entrepreneurs from the duty to submit applications to the National Court Register as regards the data covered by the exchange. 

• In addition, the draft provides for the requirement to include the dates of birth of natural persons who do not hold the PESEL number in the register. If an entity is a foreign entrepreneur being a general partner of a limited joint-stock partnership, the draft provides for the inclusion of data allowing for the creation of a unique European identifier, and in case of entities not covered by the register integration system – it provides for the inclusion of the number in the register.