ZPP Newsletter
Warsaw, 2nd April 2019
Most opponents of the trade ban… in small towns and among people who work… in trade
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.
In the latest wave of the survey, one can observe a certain increase in the percentage of respondents positively assessing the solutions from 2018, that is two trade Sundays a month. People declaring that they are assessing these regulations rather or definitely positively constitute 45% of respondents. In November 2018, there were 43% of them which means an increase of two percentage points.
“We can clearly see that people, recognising how burdensome the regulations already in force are and how annoying the total trade ban might be beginning in 2020, more favourably evaluate what was last year and that’s two trade Sundays a month,” claims Cezary Kaźmierczak, President of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers. “This is not at all surprising. In view of the most restrictive regulations that are to come into force next year, those softer restrictions look much more rational.”
The percentage of people who in any way support the solutions in force in 2019 amounts to 37% and is four percentage points lower than in the first wave of the survey, which was carried out in November 2018. The same is true of the percentage of supporters of next year’s regulations: the ban on trade on all Sundays. It comes to 32% of respondents, while in November 2018 that was 35% of respondents.
The less critical evaluation of the 2018 solutions is reflected in the number of opponents of any restrictions on trade, which has decreased somewhat. At the same time, the percentage of opponents of regulations in force in 2019 and planned for 2020 remains the same: roughly half of Poles are against these solutions. The number of supporters of the Sunday trade ban also dropped – from 31% in November 2018, to 26% in the current edition.
“As for the structure of the group of opponents of the Sunday trade ban, the trends remain unchanged,” emphasizes prof. Dominika Maison. “We still see that the percentage of people critical of the enforced regulations is higher among residents of small towns and among people working in commerce. We have noticed this since the first wave of the survey and nothing has changed in this respect in the latest edition.”
What is interesting is that the March measurement shows once again a decline in the percentage of people who consider the Sunday trade ban as one of the two best decisions of the current government. This regulation is increasingly perceived as negative in the light of other actions undertaken by the Law and Justice government.
Fot. brian/flickr.com
