The Maison&Partners research house carried out yet another wave of the survey commissioned by the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers concerning the attitudes of the Polish people towards the Sunday trade ban. The general conclusions from this wave’s results remain the same as those based on previous editions of the study. Restrictions have the highest number of opponents among residents of small towns, as well as among people working presently or in the past in the trade sector.

Entrepreneurs from the SME sector are strongly divided concerning possible solutions regarding Sunday trade. Every fifth respondent supports the introduction of a total ban, equally many consider the most appropriate solution the introduction of two free Sundays a month for every employee, while almost 40% are in favour of no restrictions at all. Microbusinesses are the strongest supporters of lack of restrictions – this option was chosen by 43% of respondents from this group.

During the convention that took place at the end of February, the ruling party presented several new programme postulates, which then started to be collectively called “Kaczyński’s five”. These proposals boil down to transfers addressed to precisely selected social groups, of a social nature attractive from the point of view of the upcoming elections. These groups are: families with children, young people, people living outside larger urban centres, the elderly.

A new version of the draft Act amending the Act on road transport and the Act on drivers’ work time (UD 277) has been published on the website of the Government Legislation Centre recently. As indicated by the Ministry of Infrastructure, responsible for legislative work in this respect, the main objective of the project is to regulate the activities of intermediaries when outsourcing passenger transport services. The legislator’s intention is to ensure equal conditions of competition and passenger safety for all entities operating on the market and to guarantee a set quality of services.

Entrepreneurs continue to feel positive about the condition of the Polish economy. This is indicated by the latest forecasts of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers outlines in the next wave of the Busometr Index survey, whose reading amounted to 55.2 points. This is a result similar to the study from the 2nd half of 2018.

On 12th March 2019, a petition was submitted to the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland regarding the abolition of the Act on trade restrictions on Sundays and certain holidays, and introducing changes to the Labour Code guaranteeing each employee two free Sundays a month. The petition was signed by Cezary Kaźmierczak, president of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers, Jerzy Romański, president of the Polish Federation of Merchants and Producers Associations, as well as over five hundred owners of small family stores