dr Grzegorz Makowski, The Institute of Public Affairs Prague, Czech Rep., 9-10 December 2010

 Law on the Lobbying Activity in the Legislative Process (Journal of Law No. 169 of 2005 item 1414)  The Structure:  General provisions  Principles of disclosure of lobbying activity in the legislative process  The registry of entities performing professional lobbying activity, and the rules of performing professional lobbying  Supervision over professional lobbying  Penalties for violation of provisions of the Act  3 secondary acts  The Subjects: central government authorities, the Lower Chamber of Parliament, the lobbyists.

 GENERAL PROVISIONS  Regular lobbying: any activity conducted by legally allowed means, which leads towards the exertion of influence upon the organs of public authorities in the lawmaking process  Professional lobbying: gainful lobbying activity conducted on behalf of third parties in order to arrive at the interests of such third parties being taken into account in the lawmaking process

 PRINCIPLES OF DISCLOSURE OF LOBBYING ACTIVITY IN THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS  Obligation to the ministries and the government to prepare legislative plans.  Provisions concerning public hearing institution (at the governmental and parliamentary level)

 THE REGISTRY OF ENTITIES PERFORMING PROFESSIONAL LOBBYING ACTIVITY, AND THE RULES OF PERFORMING PROFESSIONAL LOBBYING  Main registry is run by the Ministry of Interior and Administration  Separate registires in Sejm and Senate

 CONTROL OVER PROFESSIONAL LOBBYING  The ministries are obliged to prepare annual information on actions taken by professional lobbyists.  No reporting obligations for professional lobbyists

 PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION OF PROVISIONS OF THE ACT  Professional lobbyists conducting their activity may be fined with amount between approx. from 800 to EUR

 Main disadvantages:  The scope of the Law - inadequate to the nature of the phenomenon.  The definitions of lobbying – too broad and imprecise.  Mixing up lobbying instruments with institutions of citizen control over public institutions, and mechanisms of participatory democracy.  Showy nature of the rules guaranteeing a fair and lawful lobbying.  The apparent incompatibility of some provisions of the Law with the Constitution of Poland.

 Number of professional lobbyists in Poland: unknown  Number of associations of professional lobbyists: 1  Number of professional lobbyists registered in the mainregistry: 165 (May 2010)  The number of registered lobbyists in the parliament: 13 (2010)  Intensity of lobbyist contacts with the ministries: 5 (according to the official report 2006)  Attendance of lobbyists to public hearings: 14 hearings and 0 professional lobbyists among participants (May 2010)

Polish lesson. What to Do When Regulating Lobbying  MINIMUM CONDITIONS FOR GOOD REGULATION OF LOBBYING  Precise deffinition  Registry of professional lobbyists  Reporting obligations for both professional lobbyists and institutions

Polish lesson. What Not to Do When Regulating Lobbying  Identify the needs.  Do not proceed with legislation in an atmosphere of a scandal.  Do not overregulate.  Carefully consider the regulation of lobbying in the context of the universal rights of citizens to participate in decision-making processes.  ‘Spellcasting by law’ does not pay. It is better to ensure transparent legislative procedures (in particular the conduct of public consultation and preparation of regulatory impact assessments), than to create a specific lobbying law.  Don’t follow Polish exmaple