Deregulation has been a loaded word among many European politicians and experts lately, with growing discussions on reducing bureaucracy and easing the burden on citizens and businesses. However, is this often-used term and concept actually feasible? And how has progress been made on this so far?
It has undoubtedly become a European trend, discussed not only by EU leaders but also within EU institutions. First, the Draghi Report, commissioned by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, highlighted the issue of overregulation. This was followed by von der Leyen herself taking steps to reduce the administrative burden on businesses. In the recent Competitiveness Compass, the Commission outlined its vision to make the EU’s economy more prosperous and competitive. Then the first Omnibus packages came from the Commission, aimed at simplifying the business environment across the EU. However, there is still a long way to go in the deregulation process, and these initial measures seem more like small steps in the right direction.
Poland has also picked up on this trend. The Polish government, particularly Prime Minister Donald Tusk, has entrusted Rafał Brzoska—a top Polish billionaire best known for his highly successful company, InPost, Europe’s leading out-of-home delivery service provider—to lead the Deregulation Task Force. This Task Force aims to collaborate with civil society, including entrepreneurs and experts from various industries to prepare a deregulation package for Polish businesses and present it to the government.
Among other initiatives, Rafał Brzoska launched Sprawdzamy.com, a platform where anyone can report regulatory absurdities and unnecessary legal barriers for businesses in Poland. This initiative seeks to identify regulatory obstacles and propose concrete solutions to address them, making it easier to do business in Poland and attracting more investment to the country.
In Poland, the government—led by the ruling Civic Coalition and Donald Tusk—has been actively promoting deregulation. At the same time, the Confederation, an extreme-right, populist, and Eurosceptic party, is also trying to position itself as the main advocate of deregulation. Their main slogan for the upcoming Polish presidential elections (scheduled for May 18, 2025) is, in fact, deregulation. It seems that both political forces—the Civic Coalition, through its candidate Rafał Trzaskowski, and Confederation, through its candidate Sławomir Mentzen—are competing for the votes of entrepreneurs, which appear to be a key demographic in the upcoming elections. But can effective deregulation in Poland truly succeed, or is it just another campaign buzzword?
It is crucial to remember that Poland (like the other EU members) cannot simply eliminate many regulations because they originate from EU law and apply across the entire EU as part of the EU single market rules. Removing them in a single country could create inconsistencies in business environments across EU member states, violating the principles of the EU internal market. For example, in competition policy, the EU has exclusive competence to regulate, and limiting regulations in this area solely by Poland would be unlawful.
Another issue is that when transposing EU directives into their national laws, member states are allowed to adopt even stricter requirements than the minimum requirements laid down in the directives. This means that member states often go beyond EU directives, implementing stricter national laws and regulations due to a fear of non-compliance and legal uncertainty. In Poland’s case, such overregulation can certainly be curbed.
It is hard to predict at this stage if Poland will be able to eliminate excessive regulation on its own without action from the EU, and most importantly, the Commission. As part of the single market, Poland cannot deregulate many of the areas, without the EU’s initiative.
The coming months will reveal whether deregulation is merely another campaign slogan in Poland, whether the trend will persist in both Poland and Europe, and whether the effective deregulation that entrepreneurs are advocating for is even possible. Deregulation has become too important in the current legal and political landscape to remain merely a campaign slogan. That is why Poland must intensify its efforts to advocate for deregulation at the EU level, especially given its influential role during its Presidency of the Council of the EU.