In March of 2025 a new bill dated 21.02.2025 concerning changes to the act on bio- components and biomass fuels and other acts went into effect on 01.04.2025. The aim of this new bill is directed at the implementation of DIRECTIVE (EU) 2018/2001 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 11 December 2018 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources in Poland and to ensure the development of the fuel market by the use of renewable energy and the reduction of emissions in the transport sector.
By the end of March new provisions of the act of changes to the promotion of agri-food products dated 21.02.2025 were also introduced extending the catalogue of oil crops and specifying the list of entities that are charged with fees for the Promotion Fund for Oil Crops. March also saw new changes to the act on the power market from 21.02.2025 according to which the mechanism of the so – called “tiebreak auction” was established within the power market that allows the main auction to be repeated or to supplement contracts already concluded as a result of the conduction of the main auction provided that the results of the main auction does not ensure the possibility of maintaining the security of the electricity supply to end users. According to the new regulations the tiebreak auction can be carried out for the year of delivery 2029 with an extension option until 2030.
This month also saw the introduction of new provisions of the law from 24.01.2024 in connection with Poland’s access to the cooperation within the European Prosecutor tailoring Polish regulations to the COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) 2017/1939 of 12 October 2017 implementing enhanced cooperation on the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (‘the EPPO’). The most important changes refer to the status of the European Prosecutor or any other European delegated Prosecutors that will be equipped with the same status (rights and obligations) applying to Polish prosecutors. Furthermore, the new law also regulates the procedures of selection of candidates for the EPPO according to which these candidates will be chosen among public prosecutors within the contests to be held pursuant to EPPO Regulations that will be issued by the Polish General Prosecutor. In addition, provisions of the Polish Criminal Court Proceedings have been amended appropriately by adding a new chapter (XIIa) subject to the terms of cooperation with the EPPO.
By the end of March a new bill from 29.02.2025 concerning amendments to the Tax Excise Act and other acts will take effect according to which a new category of products will be levied with excise tax for instance vaporization equipment, sets of parts of vaporization equipment, nicotine pouches and other nicotine products. The Tax Excise Act introduced a new extensive definition of cutting – edge products and other nicotine products.
In this month also an act on amendments to the act on providing aid to foreigners in Poland from 21.02.2025 was endorsed to institute into the Polish legal system a mechanism of temporary suspension of legal regulations concerning the seeking of applications for international protection. This new judicial act shall establish new legal instruments aiming at counteracting the destabilization of the inner situation in Poland and other EU member states resulting from the creation of artificial migration pressure by third countries bordering Poland or by other entities.
In March a regulation dated 07.03.2025 went into force adopting domestic provisions to the provisions of the COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1217/2009 of 30 November 2009 setting up a network for the collection of accountancy data on the incomes and business operations of agricultural holdings in the European Community. The new regulations set forth terms and conditions for bodies and organizational units engaged in the collection and delivering of accounting, environmental and social data from agricultural holdings as well as the organization and manner of working of Domestic (Regional) Committees for the EU Network for the Collection of Data on Sustainability of Agricultural Holdings. According to the said EC Regulation the so – called “Liaison Agency” shall in particular inform the National Committee, the Regional Committees and the accountancy offices of the details rules of application concerning them and to ensure that those rules are properly implemented, drawn up and submitted to the National Committee for its approval among other things the plan of returning holdings (being agricultural holdings making returns for the purpose of a data network) and reports on the implementation of the plan for selection of returning holdings and compiling the list of returning holdings. In Poland the Institute of Agriculture and Food Economics shall serve as such an “Liaison Agency”.
New changes have also been made within the scope of the act on marine areas of Poland aiming at the amendment of legal regulations in the fields of the following marine areas: conduction of search activities, dealing with sunken dangerous materials and diving on shipwrecks.
Finally, the Polish legislator has decided to alter the Act on the Protection of Health against the use of nicotine and tobacco products implementing the directive (EU) 2022/210 of 29 June 2022 amending Directive 2014/40/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the withdrawal of certain exemptions in respect of heated tobacco products into the Polish legal system. The new law has established the definition of the so – called “heated tobacco products” meaning a novel tobacco product that is heated to produce an emission containing nicotine and other chemicals, which is then inhaled by user(s), and that, depending on its characteristics, is a smokeless tobacco product or a tobacco product for smoking.
