A week ago, Prime Minister Donald Tusk, during the conference “Poland. The Breakthrough Year,” called upon Rafał Brzoska, the head of InPost, to prepare a set of laws to deregulate the Polish economy. Brzoska, visibly amused, agreed to Tusk’s proposal on December 13. On Monday, he unveiled his initial ideas and introduced the team that will help “save face” for the new government. The entrepreneur initially promised his initiative would be “apolitical.” However, judging by the experts he has invited to collaborate, “apolitical” may not be the most accurate word. We also know who might feel overlooked by Donald Tusk’s media stunt, and who does not seem bothered at all.
Deregulation Work Announced on Social Media
Rafał Brzoska announced the start of the deregulation work via social media. On the X platform, he shared where the public can review the proposals made not only by him but also by broader business circles and other stakeholders.
“Complex regulations, unnecessary bureaucracy, unclear rules—every one of us deals with these issues daily. It’s time for change! As entrepreneurs, we took on the challenge and, in just seven days (!), we formed a team of hundreds of volunteers, experts, and officials united by a shared vision of transforming the state’s bureaucratic machinery. We call our initiative ‘SprawdzaMY’ (‘We’re Checking’) to emphasize that we’re examining what can be improved. We also hope to soon check the willingness of all officials and politicians to implement the positive changes citizens expect. This is a grassroots deregulation initiative where everyone can submit their ideas for simpler, better law,”
Brzoska announced.
Not So Apolitical After All
Brzoska then listed a range of benefits that deregulation could bring, calling his initiative “apolitical.” Yet many of the experts involved have been or still are politically active. Among them are local government officials and currently serving city mayors who make up the Council of Experts for Local Government:
- Jakub Banaszek – Mayor of Chełm (endorsed by PiS in local elections, and until 2021 a member of the board of the Agreement [Porozumienie] party)
- Krzysztof Kosiński – Mayor of Ciechanów (spokesperson for the Polish People’s Party [PSL] and its parliamentary caucus from 2011 to 2014; mayor since 2014, endorsed in 2018 by PSL, Civic Platform [PO], and Modern [Nowoczesna]; now supported by PSL and Polska 2050)
- Rafael Rokaszewicz – Mayor of Głogów since 2014 (member of the Democratic Left Alliance [SLD], now part of New Left [Nowa Lewica])
- Tadeusz Truskolaski – Mayor of Białystok (officially non-partisan, though supported by PO/KO in the last four local election cycles)
In the Council of Experts for Deregulation sits Dr. hab. Robert Gwiazdowski, who once attempted to enter politics by founding the political movement Polska Fair Play in 2019. The group managed to register its own committee for the 2019 European Parliament elections, presenting a program called “Gwiazdowski’s Six-Point Plan.” Announced in March 2019, the initiative was dissolved by Gwiazdowski after just three months.
Besides Gwiazdowski, other members working on deregulation include Dr. hab. Przemysław Litwiniuk, affiliated with the Polish People’s Party (PSL), and Agnieszka Maria Majewska, the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Ombudsman, who was nominated with support from local politicians in Gdańsk.
Over in the Council of Experts for Digitalization, Development, and Research Support, there is another political connection: Anna Streżyńska, who served as Minister of Digital Affairs from 2015 to 2018 in a PiS-led government. She was responsible for creating and rolling out the digitization program for public administration in Poland, including the mObywatel application, a trusted signature system, and the use of banking logins for e-government. As part of the “SprawdzaMY” initiative, she will work with science communicator Dr. Maciej Kawecki and Dr. hab. Piotr Sankowski.
Good PR Is Key
Interestingly, though the “SprawdzaMY” website bills itself as an open project where everyone can submit ideas and highlight the most glaring legal absurdities, among the named “apolitical” experts there is not a single person connected with the right-wing Confederation party (Konfederacja).
According to one prominent politician quoted by the portal niezalezna.pl,
“Everything Donald Tusk does now, including that conference where he asked Brzoska to prepare deregulation, is just a PR move with an eye on the upcoming presidential election. Tusk likely doesn’t care about deregulation at all, but in the lead-up to the presidential race, it’s useful for him to dress up the coalition—and Rafał Trzaskowski—in a more libertarian costume.”
The source adds that there is no bad blood toward Rafał Brzoska:
“He’s an entrepreneur who knows very well how to position and run his business. Political connections are bound to bring him some benefits too. Very few people in Poland have his kind of profile. Maybe one day he’ll want to enter politics himself? For now, it looks like he really has committed to preparing deregulation. But with Tusk in power, none of it will go anywhere.”
Someone else might feel slighted, though: Mariusz Filipek, the plenipotentiary for deregulation, who serves in that role pro bono and does not receive any salary. Today, with all the attention on Brzoska and the remarkable single week it took to propose changes, few people are aware of Filipek’s position or the fact that—within a team at the Ministry of Development and Technology—he has supposedly been working on a deregulation package for a year.
As a side note, we learned from a Whois Lookup that the “SprawdzaMY” project website was purchased and created on April 18, 2024, with modifications made on October 28, 2024. This raises questions as to whether the “one-week” deregulation miracle was, in reality, a venture planned and refined over several months.
Who’s Afraid of Deregulation?
Although “deregulation” itself sounds promising and is certainly beneficial in theory, each proposal within this initiative has its consequences. One particular proposal—“equal rights on the labor market, i.e., employing foreign workers without discriminating against Polish citizens”—has sparked controversy and concern among some users on X.
With the project now underway, it remains to be seen whether these proposed changes will gain real traction or simply serve as good PR—especially in the lead-up to major national elections. One thing is certain: despite claims of being “apolitical,” many of the figures behind “SprawdzaMY” are anything but.