Manifesto

Preamble

The aims of ZPP are:

• To foster amelioration of conditions of running business in Poland,
• Representing and defending ZPP Members in case of unjustified actions of the state or local government units.
• Growth and cooperation – ZPP provides its Members and other entrepreneurs with varied possibilities of developing their businesses, and of cooperation. Systematically, we launch tools which are to increase our business effectiveness and to facilitate running our companies,
• To provide our affiliated companies with professional knowledge and information,
• Members of ZPP benefit from discounts and special offers.

Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers initiates and supports activity towards elimination from Polish legislation of business activity limitations which go beyond EU requirements (EU+0) and thus level up competition between Polish and European companies.

We are proponents of free market and common sense.

Manifesto of Entrepreneurs and Employers

Entrepreneurs of all sectors – come together!

There are over 2 million of entrepreneurs hiring up to 250 employees. We generate more than 60% of Polish GDP. We create over 70% of work places. Almost ¾ of Poles work in our companies.

Even though small and medium enterprises are the foundation of Polish economy, our government doesn't treat us seriously. Repeating promises and election campaigns bring nothing but empty slogans. No real actions are taken. Instead of developing our companies, we dedicate significant part of our work to struggling with redundant regulations, laws and bureaucracy.

We can change this situation by coming together to defend our rights.

Therefore we establish Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers, which will help us in matters concerning our businesses as well as will lead to amelioration of conditions of running businesses in Poland.

We believe that the most urgent matters are:

Simplification of economic law

One of the pillars of Polish economic miracle after collapse of communism was the “Wilczek's Act”. After a series of failed political experiments, it is about time to get back to it. Except of some minor details, the Act is completely compliant with current European law.

Faster settling of court disputes

Economic disputes which last for years are a torment. We demand the same right which was granted to politicians – a right to a rapid trial. Judge's work is to settle disputes and to do justice. Court trials needn't be so formalised as they are now. They should be held day after day until a verdict is given – like in the USA. Law ought to serve people, not to be convenient for judges, lawyers and attorneys.

Simplification of tax system

Polish tax system is one of the worst in the world. From our perspective, a tax is a “cost” which we can easily take into account when assessing our businesses' finances. Under the condition that it is easy to calculate, and that the law and its interpretations aren't constantly changed. We advocate simple taxes – their costs would be lower for the government and for the entrepreneurs. The best tax system for everyone is the one used to proposed by Krzysztof Dzierżawski. An easy income tax to substitute CIT, which would free entrepreneurs from the torture of calculating the “costs of revenue.” An easy tax from the Remuneration Fund to substitute PIT and ZUS contributions. VAT tax with a constant rate, which could be paid by small companies in a system of lump-sum (in such case, without possibility of deducting it). The rates of those taxes could be established in a way that such a change of the tax system would be completely neutral for the budget.

Lowering the costs of work

In Poland, work is taxed like alcohol and cigarettes. The high work tax reaching to 80% is one of the worst possible taxes. This is the reason of high unemployment, low competitiveness of our companies, and widely developed unregistered economy. The decrease in inflow to the budget caused by radical lowering of work taxes could be balanced by indirect consumption taxes.

Limiting the bureaucracy

Each entrepreneur has to fill in a gigantic number of different kinds of documents which must be sent to the government and its agencies. We lose hundreds of hours on redundant bureaucracy. Instead of developing our companies, we are swamped by papers. Everyone loses, including the government. Altering this situation is easy and simple and doesn't require big expenses. It merely requires change of procedures for the less time-consuming and more adjusted to the existing technology.

Setting a real court control over tax officers decisions

Each decision of a tax officer which might lead to loss of even one job shouldn't be granted an enforcement clause before coming into force. The existing law which allows officers to arbitrarily execute decision (often unjustified decisions) which are later revoked by courts is a violation of basic human rights.

Stability of law and rules of the game

We want to focus on running our businesses and not on following changes in the journal of laws. Law must be stable and the rules clear. It is even better to have a bad, but stable law than constantly improved, and changed every couple of months one.

Liquidation of investment barriers

The bureaucrats cannot decide about our actions. We cannot depend on their caprices. Everyone has a right to a fast investment process, not only politicians' friends.

Realisation of those postulates will contribute to rapid development of our businesses and of Poland. The only obstacle to their introduction is the stagnation of political class, lack of willingness for acting and varied superstitions and conspiracy theories of people who cannot find themselves in the market reality.

We will initiate and support all of the activity towards elimination from Polish legislation of business activity limitations which go beyond EU requirements, and thus level up competition between Polish and European companies since we operate in a much worse law and institutional environment than our European competitors.

To achieve this, we need to organise our environment. Only organised pressure on the ruling politicians may improve our situation. As the practise shows, politicians don't make good changes (even if they would be beneficial for them), unless they feel social pressure. So let's create this pressure.

 Entrepreneurs of all sectors – come together!