Consensus-Building
#28Key Findings
Poland falls into the bottom ranks (rank 28) in the category of consensus-building.
The PiS government’s reliance on independent expert opinions was inconsistent. The government frequently prioritized ideological criteria over merit-based decisions, particularly in appointing key officials and formulating policies. Major infrastructure projects were criticized by experts for being economically inefficient, but these concerns were ignored.
Consultation processes under the PiS government lacked transparency and were infrequent, limiting the involvement of capital and labor organizations. Cooperation with major organizations was based on political alignment, thus giving disproportionate voice to the pro-government Solidarność union, for example.
Social welfare organizations and other civil society groups also experienced irregular consultation at various levels, with minimal influence. Environmental groups have had greater impact at local levels. An open data policy has led to a user-friendly data portal providing access to national and regional data with minimal delays in publication.
The PiS government’s reliance on independent expert opinions was inconsistent. The government frequently prioritized ideological criteria over merit-based decisions, particularly in appointing key officials and formulating policies. Major infrastructure projects were criticized by experts for being economically inefficient, but these concerns were ignored.
Consultation processes under the PiS government lacked transparency and were infrequent, limiting the involvement of capital and labor organizations. Cooperation with major organizations was based on political alignment, thus giving disproportionate voice to the pro-government Solidarność union, for example.
Social welfare organizations and other civil society groups also experienced irregular consultation at various levels, with minimal influence. Environmental groups have had greater impact at local levels. An open data policy has led to a user-friendly data portal providing access to national and regional data with minimal delays in publication.
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To what extent is the government successful in effectively harnessing the best available scientific knowledge for policymaking purposes?
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9
9
The government is able to harness the best available scientific knowledge for policymaking purposes.
8
7
6
7
6
In most cases, the government is able to harness the best available scientific knowledge for policymaking purposes.
5
4
3
4
3
Only rarely is the government able to harness the best available scientific knowledge for policymaking purposes.
2
1
1
The government is not able to harness the best available scientific knowledge for policymaking purposes.
The PiS government’s inconsistent reliance on independent expert opinions raised concerns about transparency and accountability in policy development. This approach prompted questions about the government’s commitment to evidence-based reasoning and thorough analysis in its decision-making processes, and potentially hindered its effectiveness in addressing complex challenges.
Furthermore, prioritizing ideological criteria over merit-based considerations has drawn criticism, particularly with regard to the appointments of key officials and the formulation of policies. This sparked debates about the overall direction of governance, highlighting the balance between political ideologies and the need for pragmatic, evidence-driven decision-making. Examples such as the overexploitation of Polish forests and the delays in decarbonization due to the lack of focus on the development of renewable energy sources underscore the government’s disregard for scientific knowledge and expert opinions.
Several of the government’s major infrastructure projects, including the Vistula Spit Canal and Central Communication Port, faced significant criticism from experts regarding their economic cost-effectiveness. However, these concerns were disregarded. Additionally, there were instances in which legal experts were selectively chosen on matters concerning judicial reforms and understanding the merits of European integration.
At the ministerial level, scientific expertise was occasionally considered. The minister of health had to appoint national consultants from various fields relevant to healthcare, such as medicine, pharmacy, nursing, midwifery and psychology. Regional consultants were also appointed, although their roles diminished in 2023 as the number of COVID-19 patients declined. Experts were involved in advisory commissions, such in the case of the minister of climate and environment’s Commission on Genetically Modified Microorganisms and Genetically Modified Organisms. Still, the core decisions were made chiefly on political grounds.
Furthermore, prioritizing ideological criteria over merit-based considerations has drawn criticism, particularly with regard to the appointments of key officials and the formulation of policies. This sparked debates about the overall direction of governance, highlighting the balance between political ideologies and the need for pragmatic, evidence-driven decision-making. Examples such as the overexploitation of Polish forests and the delays in decarbonization due to the lack of focus on the development of renewable energy sources underscore the government’s disregard for scientific knowledge and expert opinions.
Several of the government’s major infrastructure projects, including the Vistula Spit Canal and Central Communication Port, faced significant criticism from experts regarding their economic cost-effectiveness. However, these concerns were disregarded. Additionally, there were instances in which legal experts were selectively chosen on matters concerning judicial reforms and understanding the merits of European integration.
At the ministerial level, scientific expertise was occasionally considered. The minister of health had to appoint national consultants from various fields relevant to healthcare, such as medicine, pharmacy, nursing, midwifery and psychology. Regional consultants were also appointed, although their roles diminished in 2023 as the number of COVID-19 patients declined. Experts were involved in advisory commissions, such in the case of the minister of climate and environment’s Commission on Genetically Modified Microorganisms and Genetically Modified Organisms. Still, the core decisions were made chiefly on political grounds.
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To what extent does the government facilitate the participation of trade unions and business organizations in policymaking?
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9
The government is able to effectively involve trade unions and business organizations in policy development.
8
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7
6
Most of the time, the government is able to effectively involve trade unions and business organizations in policy development.
5
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3
4
3
The government is rarely able to effectively involve trade unions and business organizations in policy development.
2
1
1
The government is not able to effectively involve trade unions and business organizations in policy development.
Institutional mechanisms in Poland currently fall short of actively involving capital and labor organizations from the outset of policymaking processes. The use of expert commissions, public hearings and performance monitoring is infrequent and irregular. The consultation process lacks transparency, hindering effective communication between government officials and representatives of capital and labor. The existing institutional setup provides only for limited inclusion of various private sector and labor stakeholders.
Under the PiS government, cooperation with major organizations depended on these group’s ideological and political proximity, rendering the dialogue exclusive and not inclusive of all types of organizations. For example, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Solidarity labor union Chairman Piotr Duda, who supported the PiS government, signed an agreement on June 7, 2023 introducing a series of changes advocated by this trade union, including pay raises for public sector employees. In contrast, arguments voiced by teachers’ unions such as the Polish Teachers Union (Związek Nauczycielstwa Polskiego), which has been highly critical of changes in the educational system and the politicization of schools, were not acknowledged.
Representatives of the labor sector and the government gathered under the auspices of the president within the Social Dialogue Council, but real consultation and exchanges of opinion were limited. The most frequently cited problem by employers’ organizations and trade unions was the difficulties arising from legal regulations and procedures (respectively 47.0% and 34.8% of survey respondents cited this issue). Employers’ organizations often identified issues in their interactions with the public administration (33.2%), while trade unions pointed to challenges related to an insufficient number of volunteers for social work (31.4%) (GUS 2023).
Citations:
GUS. 2023. “Partnerzy dialogu społecznego – organizacje pracodawców i związki zawodowe w 2022 r.” https://stat.gov.pl/download/gfx/portalinformacyjny/pl/defaultaktualnosci/5490/16/2/1/partnerzy_dialogu_spolecznego_-_organizacje_pracodawcow_i_zwiazki_zawodowe_w_2022_r.pdf
https://www.worker-participation.eu/national-industrial-relations/countries/poland
Under the PiS government, cooperation with major organizations depended on these group’s ideological and political proximity, rendering the dialogue exclusive and not inclusive of all types of organizations. For example, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Solidarity labor union Chairman Piotr Duda, who supported the PiS government, signed an agreement on June 7, 2023 introducing a series of changes advocated by this trade union, including pay raises for public sector employees. In contrast, arguments voiced by teachers’ unions such as the Polish Teachers Union (Związek Nauczycielstwa Polskiego), which has been highly critical of changes in the educational system and the politicization of schools, were not acknowledged.
Representatives of the labor sector and the government gathered under the auspices of the president within the Social Dialogue Council, but real consultation and exchanges of opinion were limited. The most frequently cited problem by employers’ organizations and trade unions was the difficulties arising from legal regulations and procedures (respectively 47.0% and 34.8% of survey respondents cited this issue). Employers’ organizations often identified issues in their interactions with the public administration (33.2%), while trade unions pointed to challenges related to an insufficient number of volunteers for social work (31.4%) (GUS 2023).
Citations:
GUS. 2023. “Partnerzy dialogu społecznego – organizacje pracodawców i związki zawodowe w 2022 r.” https://stat.gov.pl/download/gfx/portalinformacyjny/pl/defaultaktualnosci/5490/16/2/1/partnerzy_dialogu_spolecznego_-_organizacje_pracodawcow_i_zwiazki_zawodowe_w_2022_r.pdf
https://www.worker-participation.eu/national-industrial-relations/countries/poland
To what extent does the government facilitate the participation of leading social welfare CSOs in policymaking?
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9
9
The government is able to effectively involve leading social welfare CSOs in policy development.
8
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7
6
Most of the time, the government is able to effectively involve leading social welfare CSOs in policy development.
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3
4
3
The government is rarely able to effectively involve leading social welfare CSOs in policy development.
2
1
1
The government is not able to effectively involve leading social welfare CSOs in policy development.
As with other civil society organizations (CSOs), the role of social welfare organizations in policymaking under the PiS government was limited to irregular, nontransparent consultations at various levels. Between 2019 and 2023, only four public hearings during parliamentary commission proceedings were held. The PiS government favored organizations that promoted conservative values and traditional family roles, especially those linked to the Catholic Church. In contrast, well-established initiatives like the Science Festival – the largest and one of the most prestigious events promoting science in Poland – took place without any financial support from the Ministry of Education and Science for the first time in 2023.
Attempts to deepen the politicization of education were blocked twice by presidential veto, and the Senate faced extended critique from pupils and parents’ organizations due to a lack of social dialogue. In general, 2023 was marked by higher involvement of youth organizations in public discourse and actions. This led to a very high turnout rate among young people in the October 2023 parliamentary elections. After the elections, 80 of the most important Polish social organizations published a statement to the new liberal government on the need to strengthen social dialogue and use the knowledge of the third sector to restore the rule of law and build a progressive, responsible state (Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights 2023).
Citations:
Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. 2023. “Statement by civil society organizations after the 2023 parliamentary elections.” https://hfhr.pl/en/news/statement-by-civil-society-organisations-after-the-2023-parliamentary-elections
Attempts to deepen the politicization of education were blocked twice by presidential veto, and the Senate faced extended critique from pupils and parents’ organizations due to a lack of social dialogue. In general, 2023 was marked by higher involvement of youth organizations in public discourse and actions. This led to a very high turnout rate among young people in the October 2023 parliamentary elections. After the elections, 80 of the most important Polish social organizations published a statement to the new liberal government on the need to strengthen social dialogue and use the knowledge of the third sector to restore the rule of law and build a progressive, responsible state (Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights 2023).
Citations:
Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. 2023. “Statement by civil society organizations after the 2023 parliamentary elections.” https://hfhr.pl/en/news/statement-by-civil-society-organisations-after-the-2023-parliamentary-elections
To what extent does the government facilitate the participation of leading environmental CSOs in policymaking?
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9
9
The government is able to effectively involve leading environmental CSOs in policy development.
8
7
6
7
6
Most of the time, the government is able to effectively involve leading environmental CSOs in policy development.
5
4
3
4
3
The government is rarely able to effectively involve leading environmental CSOs in policy development.
2
1
1
The government is not able to effectively involve leading environmental CSOs in policy development.
Public authorities are obliged to invite public participation in the initial stages of document formulation. These documents are made public, and the results are published. However, the degree to which social proposals are actually incorporated in the area of environmental protection remains extremely low.
Most organizations maintained a high level of independence under the PiS government. They criticized the government’s inability to address Poland’s environmental challenges, for instance in the areas of decarbonization, air quality or wild species protection. In 2020, Greenpeace called on Poland to discontinue policies inconsistent with achieving climate neutrality goals. These policies included draining peatlands, hindering the development of renewable energy sources, failing to develop a sustainable transportation policy, and inadequate building thermal modernization.
In the 2022 – 2023 period, CSOs continued to highlight the overexploitation of Polish forests, the lack of management and oversight leading to the Oder River environmental disaster, and the need to change legislation regarding wind energy. Consultations were conducted as part of the legal requirements set out by EU regulations. The local dialogue process with environmental organizations evaluating regional strategies was well developed.
Citations:
https://www.fhi360.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/csosi-europe-eurasia-2022-report.pdf
Most organizations maintained a high level of independence under the PiS government. They criticized the government’s inability to address Poland’s environmental challenges, for instance in the areas of decarbonization, air quality or wild species protection. In 2020, Greenpeace called on Poland to discontinue policies inconsistent with achieving climate neutrality goals. These policies included draining peatlands, hindering the development of renewable energy sources, failing to develop a sustainable transportation policy, and inadequate building thermal modernization.
In the 2022 – 2023 period, CSOs continued to highlight the overexploitation of Polish forests, the lack of management and oversight leading to the Oder River environmental disaster, and the need to change legislation regarding wind energy. Consultations were conducted as part of the legal requirements set out by EU regulations. The local dialogue process with environmental organizations evaluating regional strategies was well developed.
Citations:
https://www.fhi360.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/csosi-europe-eurasia-2022-report.pdf
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To what extent does the government publish data and information that empowers citizens to hold the government accountable?
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The government publishes data and information in a manner that empowers citizens to hold the government accountable.
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Most of the time, the government publishes data and information in a manner that empowers citizens to hold the government accountable.
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The government rarely publishes data and information in a manner that strengthens citizens to hold the government accountable.
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The government does not publish data and information in a manner that strengthens citizens’ capacity to hold the government accountable.
Between 2022 and 2023, access to data expanded significantly under the Open Data Program for 2021 – 2027, launched on February 18, 2021. This program aimed to enhance data accessibility through the data.gov.pl portal, improve data interoperability and quality, increase data utilization and exchange, stimulate cultural and scientific data reuse, and boost collaboration with national and international data stakeholders. It also focused on improving public administration skills and raising societal awareness. The law on open data and the reuse of public sector information took effect on March 8, 2022.
The 2022 Implementation Report for the program emphasized that its primary goal was to increase the availability of open data, including valuable information that could foster new services and products. The report aimed to establish an optimal regulatory framework for effectively utilizing public sector information in Poland. The data portal (dane.gov.pl) is the main tool, updated regularly according to semiannual plans. As of December 31, 2023, the portal featured 375 publishers, a total of 35,604 resources and 590 APIs. Publishers were categorized into three types: local government (128), private entities (82) and public government (165). The user-friendly portal offers filters for data formats, publishers, locations, openness scores, visualization types and time ranges. It provides access to national and regional data with minimal delays in publication.
In response to international events, a new subcategory titled “Ukraine” was added to display information on Polish policies toward Ukrainian citizens (Otwarte dane 2023).
In the EU’s 2023 Open Data Maturity Report, Poland advanced to second place with a score of 97.9%, up from third place in 2022. It ranked just behind France (98.2%) and ahead of Estonia (96.2%). This high ranking reflects a successful combination of strategic, legal and technical elements, as well as effective collaboration between central and local governments, allowing municipalities to implement independent openness policies (European Data 2023).
Citations:
European Data. 2023. “Open Data in Europe 2023.” https://data.europa.eu/en/publications/open-data-maturity/2023#country-overview
Otwarte dane. 2023. “Sprawozdanie z realizacji Programu otwierania danych na lata 2021-2027 za rok 2022.” https://dane.gov.pl/pl/knowledgebase/useful-materials/program-otwierania-danych-na-lata-2021-2027
Rada Ministrów. 2021. Uchwała nr 28 Rady Ministrów z dnia 18 lutego 2021 r. w sprawie Programu otwierania danych na lata 2021-2027. https://dane.gov.pl/pl/knowledgebase/useful-materials/program-otwierania-danych-na-lata-2021-2027
https://rsf.org/en/country/poland
https://worldjusticeproject.org/rule-of-law-index/country/2023/Poland/Regulatory%20Enforcement/
The 2022 Implementation Report for the program emphasized that its primary goal was to increase the availability of open data, including valuable information that could foster new services and products. The report aimed to establish an optimal regulatory framework for effectively utilizing public sector information in Poland. The data portal (dane.gov.pl) is the main tool, updated regularly according to semiannual plans. As of December 31, 2023, the portal featured 375 publishers, a total of 35,604 resources and 590 APIs. Publishers were categorized into three types: local government (128), private entities (82) and public government (165). The user-friendly portal offers filters for data formats, publishers, locations, openness scores, visualization types and time ranges. It provides access to national and regional data with minimal delays in publication.
In response to international events, a new subcategory titled “Ukraine” was added to display information on Polish policies toward Ukrainian citizens (Otwarte dane 2023).
In the EU’s 2023 Open Data Maturity Report, Poland advanced to second place with a score of 97.9%, up from third place in 2022. It ranked just behind France (98.2%) and ahead of Estonia (96.2%). This high ranking reflects a successful combination of strategic, legal and technical elements, as well as effective collaboration between central and local governments, allowing municipalities to implement independent openness policies (European Data 2023).
Citations:
European Data. 2023. “Open Data in Europe 2023.” https://data.europa.eu/en/publications/open-data-maturity/2023#country-overview
Otwarte dane. 2023. “Sprawozdanie z realizacji Programu otwierania danych na lata 2021-2027 za rok 2022.” https://dane.gov.pl/pl/knowledgebase/useful-materials/program-otwierania-danych-na-lata-2021-2027
Rada Ministrów. 2021. Uchwała nr 28 Rady Ministrów z dnia 18 lutego 2021 r. w sprawie Programu otwierania danych na lata 2021-2027. https://dane.gov.pl/pl/knowledgebase/useful-materials/program-otwierania-danych-na-lata-2021-2027
https://rsf.org/en/country/poland
https://worldjusticeproject.org/rule-of-law-index/country/2023/Poland/Regulatory%20Enforcement/