Press Release
Warsaw, 23 June 2009
‘White Paper’ of The British-Polish Chamber of Commerce
The British-Polish Chamber of Commerce has developed a White Paper. This document will be officially handed over at the special meeting to the Polish-British Parliamentary Group, other members of parliament and representatives of relevant government departments.
The document contains proposals for changes in the following areas:
Obstacles
Labour law
Still too restrictive from the point of the employer. Umowa o pracę na czas nieokreślony is considered something to avoid. On the other hand, setting up self-employed status is too restrictive from the point of view of the self-employed. Suggest simplified half-way house - extending Umowa o dzieło to wider group.
Labour costs
Non-wage costs are way too high and will make Poland increasingly uncompetitive as wages and prices converge in western Europe. ZUS and KRUS need instant reform.
Tax system
Too expensive. It costs 2.30PLN to collect 100PLN of tax. In Ireland, it costs €0.90 to collect €100 of tax. Poland's tax system is two and half times less effective that the EU's best.
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Urban planning and infrastructure
Decisions take too long. Culture of risk - and decision -avoidance among public sector officials needs to be changed. Obstacles to spending EU funds earmarked for infrastructure need to be identified and removed. Planning permission - system needs to be speeded up and made more transparent.
Opportunities
Optimising the workforce
Poland needs to ensure that EU funds earmarked for human resources development are wisely spent to upskill the workforce.
Creating an enterprise culture
Poles are a dynamic and courageous people. If the most is to be made of the country's entrepreneurial potential, barriers need to be removed, young people in schools and universities need to be encouraged to start their own businesses.
Poland needs to re-think its tourism strategy
Tourism plays a significant part of many countries' GDP. It could play a more important role in Poland in terms of revenues and jobs; Poland needs to focus on a mass of niches in areas where it excels.
An entire creative industries sector is missing
15% of the UK's GDP but only 2% - 4% of Poland's is made in creative industry. Design, visual arts, music, film, etc need to be clustered to kick-start this sector.
For further information:
Daniel Bajer
British Polish Chamber of Commerce
tel: (+48 22) 320 01 15, e-mail:
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