| In Principle

Environmental inspectors in Poland are stepping up inspections of stores for compliance with the Combatting Food Waste Act. In doing so, they point to shortcomings regarding not only the proper distribution of the fee for wasted food and the implementation of educational campaigns, but especially the understanding of the definition of food waste. In many cases, the inspectors are wrong, as the administrative courts have begun to recognise.

Soon, another major amendment to the Polish Civil Procedure Code will enter into force, particularly affecting holders of intellectual property rights. The amendment will change the existing rules on interim injunction proceedings, which are typically used in intellectual property cases prior to filing a statement of claim. These changes will come into effect on 1 July 2023. Significant changes have also been made in the provisions on judicial enforcement, already in force since 15 April 2023.

It is no secret that Polish family-owned businesses struggle with the issue of succession. This has prompted the parliament to introduce a new institution, the family foundation. It is intended to allow for multi-generational succession and protect against the fragmentation of assets, while securing the means to support family members and others close to the founder.

On 13 April 2023, an amendment to the Nuclear Special Act entered into force. After a legislative process lasting almost two years, the prior rules for development of nuclear facilities in Poland were revised, along with changes to the Atomic Law.

The European unitary patent and the new patent court: What should Polish businesses know, and is there anything to fear?
 

The amendments to Poland’s Commercial Companies Code which entered into force on 13 October 2022 standardised the calculation of the terms of management board members, introduced new duties to take minutes of management board and supervisory board meetings in limited-liability companies, and expanded the catalogue of offences resulting in a ban on serving as a member of corporate bodies or as a receiver or commercial proxy. The question is whether the amendment will have a positive impact on the functioning of corporate authorities.
The amendments to Poland’s Commercial Companies Code which entered into force on 13 October 2022 standardised the calculation of the terms of management board members, introduced new duties to take minutes of management board and supervisory board meetings in limited-liability companies, and expanded the catalogue of offences resulting in a ban on serving as a member of corporate bodies or as a receiver or commercial proxy. The question is whether the amendment will have a positive impact on the functioning of corporate authorities.

In recent years, ESG has been mainly about “E”—environmental aspects, which were most often subject to regulation. Now there is increasing emphasis on social (S) and corporate governance (G). A noteworthy measure in governance is the EU’s Gender Balance Directive, which came into force at the end of 2022. The directive is intended to ensure more balanced representation of women and men among directors of listed companies.

How VAT should be charged on trading in NFTs is of interest to taxpayers and tax authorities in various European Union countries, which sometimes take different approaches. On 21 March 2023, the EU VAT Committee published Working Paper no. 1060, entitled “Initial VAT reflections on non-fungible tokens,” touching on a number of issues concerning the VAT treatment of NFTs. As NFT transactions, including high-value ones, become more common, the tax treatment of these tokens and operations involving them, including on VAT grounds, should be fairly assessed, and the working paper may have a significant impact on this assessment.

This episode of "News from Poland - Business & Law" will be devoted to the legal aspects of "Supply chain cybersecurity". The subject will be discussed by Jakub Barański, adwokat and partner in Wardyński & Partners' Dispute Resolution Practice.

The Central Register of Beneficial Owners is a public register maintained by the Polish Minister of Finance, established pursuant to the EU’s 4th Anti–Money Laundering Directive (2015/849). The register has been in operation since autumn 2019, but in connection with harmonisation of provisions on disclosure of information on beneficial owners under EU legislation it is undergoing changes and improvements. Further modifications were made on 9 March 2023.

The Polish parliament has voted to amend the Civil Procedure Code, introducing numerous changes primarily intended to speed up proceedings. On this occasion, the parliament decided to reinstate some solutions it had abandoned in recent years. Below we discuss the most important changes.

On 20 March 2023, an amendment to the Medical Device Regulation was published in the Official Journal of the European Union, extending the validity of certificates for medical devices issued under the earlier regulations. The amendment was adopted as a matter of urgency and went into effect immediately (on the date of publication). The extension is intended to prevent shortages of medical devices on the market.