Proposed deregulation of pharmaceutical law
Marketing authorisation holders will no longer have to inform the Integrated System for Monitoring Trade in Medicinal Products of the planned place of delivery of medicines, and it will be easier for persons authorised to issue prescriptions to obtain drug samples. The Polish government has approved these deregulatory proposals in the healthcare field, to be achieved by amending the Pharmaceutical Law. There are also plans to modify the requirements for qualified persons.
Guide to the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, part 3: Notification in public procurement
In this section we discuss step by step the key requirements of the FSR for notification of foreign subsidies in public procurement procedures, from the threshold and the scope of information that must be submitted, to responsibility for the data, and practical pointers for contractors and consortia.
Guide to the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, part 2: Notification of concentrations
Mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures on the EU market are now subject to review not only for antitrust considerations, but also with regard to support from third countries. Below we examine when a transaction must be notified under the FSR and how to prepare for the new procedure.
Closer and closer to repowering wind farms
On 24 March 2025 a bill was filed with the Sejm to amend the Wind Power Plants Act. We discussed the key changes compared to the earlier draft of 25 September 2024 in last week’s article. This article is devoted entirely to “repowering,” i.e. upgrading existing wind power plants.
Guide to the Foreign Subsidies Regulation: Key facts for businesses, part 1
More and more companies from outside the EU are operating on the internal market—investing, acquiring local companies, winning public tenders. Until recently, they could operate with the advantage of support from their home countries. But now, under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, the European Commission can examine their situation to ensure fair competition on the internal market.
Windmill bill filed with parliament
For a long time we have been tracking the work on amending the regulations on siting of wind power plants in Poland. In October 2024 we discussed a proposed amendment to the Wind Power Plant Act which would relax the rules for the distance between wind power plants and other facilities. In March 2025 this bill, in a slightly revised form, was submitted to the parliament and is finally being taken up. The key provisions are unchanged: the amendment is intended to expedite the development of onshore wind power in Poland, mainly by eliminating the “10H rule” and introducing a new limit of 500 metres as the minimum distance from residential structures. In this article we discuss the major differences between the current bill and the previous version.
Vehicle liability insurance: Automatic extension of coverage, and withdrawal of an insurer’s licence to conduct insurance activity
On 16 April 2025 the Polish Financial Supervision Authority banned the Bulgarian company Insurance JSC DallBogg: Life and Health from offering mandatory civil-liability coverage for operators of motor vehicles in Poland. The decision was issued under the rarely-used procedure of Art. 214(5) and (4a) of the Insurance and Reinsurance Act of 11 September 2015.
Draft Recommendations on insurance distribution and their impact on foreign insurers
Will the proposed Recommendations of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority on insurance distribution affect the activity of foreign insurers operating in Poland through a branch or under the EU’s freedom to provide services and passporting scheme?
Cross-border litigation enters the digital era
Judicial cooperation between the member states in cross-border civil, commercial and criminal matters is vital for integration of European markets and creation of a space of freedom, security and justice within the European Union. To streamline access to justice, member states have implemented their own IT solutions, in turn creating a need to unify these systems at the EU level. This is the aim of the EU’s Digitalisation Regulation (2023/2844).
Divorce with a finding of fault—the legal consequences
When there is a complete and irretrievable breakdown of a marriage, either spouse can apply to the court for dissolution of the marriage by divorce. But the court does not have to make a ruling on fault if the spouses both waive that option. A divorce decree without a ruling on fault has the same effects as a case where neither spouse was at fault. But what if the court does issue a ruling finding that one of the spouses was at fault for the breakdown of the marriage—or that both spouses were at fault?
The blind alley of digital technologies
To maintain the essential balance, I suggest sometimes taking a sceptical look at the tech rapture which we are increasingly swept up in. Then we will grasp that investing unheard-of amounts in the growth of AI and other digital technologies is not our most pressing need now.
Notification of foreign joint ventures: Another change in the UOKiK guidance on extraterritoriality
On 2 April 2025, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) published another update of the guidelines on the criteria and procedure for notification of intended concentrations. This time UOKiK clarified its interpretation of the “effects doctrine” (extraterritoriality principle) regarding joint ventures. As indicated in the communication from UOKiK, the aim is to reduce the number of foreign concentrations notified to the Polish competition authority.
