COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The EU Environmental Implementation Review 2019 Country Report - POLAND Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Environmental Implementation Review 2019: A Europe that protects its citizens and enhances their quality of life
Date: 2019-04-04
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: EU environmental policy, Poland, application of EU law, climate change policy, environmental law, environmental protection, governance, green economy, public health, quality of the environment

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 4.4.2019  SWD(2019) 128 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The EU Environmental Implementation Review 2019      Country Report - POLAND             Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Environmental Implementation Review 2019:  A Europe that protects its citizens and enhances their quality of life   {COM(2019) 149 final} - {SWD(2019) 111 final} - {SWD(2019) 112 final} - {SWD(2019) 113 final} - {SWD(2019) 114 final} - {SWD(2019) 115 final} - {SWD(2019) 116 final} - {SWD(2019) 117 final} - {SWD(2019) 118 final} - {SWD(2019) 119 final} - {SWD(2019) 120 final} - {SWD(2019) 121 final} - {SWD(2019) 122 final} - {SWD(2019) 123 final} - {SWD(2019) 124 final} - {SWD(2019) 125 final} - {SWD(2019) 126 final} - {SWD(2019) 127 final} - {SWD(2019) 129 final} - {SWD(2019) 130 final} - {SWD(2019) 131 final} - {SWD(2019) 132 final} - {SWD(2019) 133 final} - {SWD(2019) 134 final} - {SWD(2019) 135 final} - {SWD(2019) 136 final} - {SWD(2019) 137 final} - {SWD(2019) 138 final} - {SWD(2019) 139 final}  
 
 
This  report  has  been  written  by  the  staff  of  the  Directorate-General  for  Environment,  European  Commission. 
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1 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table of Contents 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................... 3 

PART I: THEMATIC AREAS .............................................................................................................................. 4 

1. 

TURNING  THE  EU  INTO  A  CIRCULAR,  RESOURCE-EFFICIENT,  GREEN  AND  COMPETITIVE  LOW-
CARBON ECONOMY .............................................................................................................................. 4 

Measures towards a circular economy ................................................................................................. 4 
Waste management .............................................................................................................................. 7 
Climate change ...................................................................................................................................... 9 

2. 

PROTECTING, CONSERVING AND ENHANCING NATURAL CAPITAL .................................................. 12 

Nature and Biodiversity....................................................................................................................... 12 
Maintaining and restoring ecosystems and their services .................................................................. 13 
Estimating Natural Capital................................................................................................................... 14 
Invasive alien species .......................................................................................................................... 15 
Soil protection ..................................................................................................................................... 15 
Marine protection ............................................................................................................................... 16 

3. 

ENSURING CITIZENS' HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE ........................................................................ 17 

Air quality ............................................................................................................................................ 17 
Industrial emissions ............................................................................................................................. 18 
 ................................................................................................................................................. 19 
Noise 
Water quality and management ......................................................................................................... 19 
Chemicals ............................................................................................................................................ 21 
Making cities more sustainable ........................................................................................................... 22 

PART II: ENABLING FRAMEWORK: IMPLEMENTATION TOOLS ................................................................... 25 

4. 

GREEN  TAXATION,  GREEN  PUBLIC  PROCUREMENT,  ENVIRONMENTAL  FUNDING  AND 
INVESTMENTS ..................................................................................................................................... 25 

Green taxation and environmentally harmful subsidies ..................................................................... 25 
Green Public Procurement .................................................................................................................. 26 
Environmental funding and investment .............................................................................................. 27 

5. STRENGTHENING ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE ............................................................................... 31 

Information, public participation and access to justice ...................................................................... 31 
Compliance assurance ......................................................................................................................... 33 
Effectiveness of environmental administrations ................................................................................ 34 
International agreements ................................................................................................................... 35 
Sustainable development and the implementation of the UN SDGs .................................................. 36 

2 

 
 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

Executive summary 

Poland  and  the  Environmental  Implementation  Review 
(EIR) 

In the 2017 EIR, the main challenges in implementing EU 
environmental policy and law in Poland were:  

 

improving  the 
Framework Directive, 

implementation  of  the  Water 

  preparing  and  implementing  investments  required 
for the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive, and  
tackling air pollution.  

 

Poland  has  not  yet  organised  an  EIR  national  dialogue 
since  the  2017  EIR  report.  In  2017  the  Commission 
launched  the  TAIEX-EIR  Peer-to-Peer  (EIR  P2P)  as  a 
learning 
practical  new  tool  facilitating  peer-to-peer 
between environmental authorities.  

Progress on meeting challenges since the 2017 report  

has 

Plans 

significantly 

As regards water quality, the 2019 EIR shows that efforts 
have  been  made  to  address  water  pollution  by  nitrates 
by  adopting  a  new  Water  Act  in  July  2017.  The  Act 
extended  the  scope  of  the  nitrates  action  programme 
from  a  small  part  of  the  country  to  the  whole  of  it. 
Moreover,  quantify  and  quality  of  information  included 
in the Programme of Measures in the second River Basin 
Management 
improved, 
particularly  in  identifying  the  gap  to  good  status  at  a 
water  body  level.  However,  the  number  of  monitoring 
sites has decreased substantially since the first RBMPs in 
all the  water  categories and  there are still  shortcomings 
regarding application of the exemptions to the objectives 
of  the  Water  Framework  Directive.  Despite  ongoing 
heavy  investment  in  building  necessary  infrastructure, 
including  projects  co-financed  by  the  EU  Funds,  Poland 
has  missed  the  final  deadline  for  achieving  compliance 
with  the  Urban  Waste  Water  Treatment  Directive  (i.e. 
2015).  Over  1000  agglomerations 
further 
investments in collecting networks and treatment plants 
estimated at EUR 6.1 billion.  

require 

There  has  been  no  progress  on  improving  air  quality. 
Limit  values  for  particulate  matter,  benzo(a)pirene  and 
nitrogene  oxides  continue  to  be  exceeded.  The  main 
reason  for  this  is  emissions  from  burning  poor-quality 
coal  in  substandard  boilers  used  to  heat  individual 
houses.  Large  volumes  of  road  traffic  and  the  large 
proportion  of  old  cars  are  other  major  factors  in  air 
pollution. While first steps have been taken, so far there 
has  been  no  progress  in  improving  air  quality.  Poland 
should  speed  up  connecting  houses  to  district  heating 
and phasing out from coal into clean energies. Moreover, 
planning measures such as low emission zones should be 
considered,  in  tandem  with  technical  improvements  to 
vehicles, and fiscal incentives. Overall, Poland should step 
up  its  efforts  to  plan  and  implement  adequate  air 

3 

pollution reduction measures. 

As  regards  waste  management,  Poland  has  made 
substantial  progress  with 
infrastructure  planning. 
Moreover,  the  regulation  setting  out  national  rules  on 
separate  collection  of  household  waste  represents  a 
major  breakthrough  which  could  boost  the  quality  of 
recycled  material  and  its  economic  value.  Its  relative 
success,  however, 
the 
enforcement  of  waste  legislation,  especially  as  regards 
checks on the bodies involved in waste management and 
the  functioning  of  extended  producer  responsibility 
schemes.  The  Commission's  2018  early  warning  report 
states that Poland is considered to be at risk of failing to 
meet the 2020 municipal waste recycling target of 50 %. 

is  heavily  dependent  on 

As  regards  nature  conservation,  Poland  has  made  some 
progress  with  drawing  up  plans  for  managing  Natura 
2000  sites.  However,  gaps  remain  in  the  designation  of 
the  Natura  2000  network  especially  with  regard  to 
certain  marine  species.  Challenges  also  continue  with 
regard  to  management  of  Natura  200  sites  that  overlap 
with  forest  districts.  The  main  threats  to  biodiversity 
remain  fast-developing  infrastructure  such  as  roads, 
regulation of rivers for navigation and flood defence, and 
intensive agriculture.  

The 2019 report  shows that Poland needs to strengthen 
environmental  governance.  Institutional  changes  that 
could  weaken 
implementation  and  enforcement  of 
environmental  legislation  should  be  avoided.  Access  to 
information  and 
for 
environmental  NGOs  in  cases  such  as  those  covered  by 
the Aarhus Convention.  

is  needed 

judicial 

review 

Examples of good practice 

 

 

 

implemented 

Two  green  infrastructure  projects,  so  called  'small 
retention in forests' aimed at flooding and droughts 
prevention, 
in  Poland.  They  use 
nature-based  solutions  to  slow  down  water  outflow 
from  forested  areas.  The  projects  have  received  EU 
funding  under 
the  2007  –  2013  Operational 
Programme for Infrastructure and Environment. 
LIFE  integrated  project  in  the  Małopolska  region, 
helping  to  implement  an  air  quality  plan  (LIFE14 
IPE/PL/000021). The project was designed to provide 
support  and  advice  on  taking  measures  to  tackle 
severe air pollution in Małopolska.  
'You have the right to effective protection for nature' 
was  another  remarkable  LIFE  project  designed  to 
increase  knowledge  and  improve  cooperation  on 
nature protection between judicial and enforcement 
authorities.  It  included  educational  and  information 
activities  for  the  authorities  concerned  and  the 
general public.  

 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

Part I: Thematic areas 

1. Turning the EU into a circular, resource-efficient, green and 

competitive low-carbon economy 

Measures towards a circular economy 

The  Circular  Economy  Action  Plan  emphasises  the  need 
to  move  towards  a  life-cycle-driven  ‘circular’  economy, 
reusing  resources  as  much  as  possible  and  bringing 
residual  waste  close  to  zero.  This  can  be  facilitated  by 
developing  and  providing  access  to  innovative  financial 
instruments and funding for eco-innovation. 

Following  the  adoption  of  the  Circular  Economy  Action 
Plan in 2015 and the setting up of a related stakeholder 
platform  in  2017,  the  European  Commission  adopted  a 
new  package  of  deliverables  in  January  20181.  This 
included  additional  initiatives  such  as:  (i)  an  EU  strategy 
for plastics; (ii) a Communication on how to address the 
interplay  between  chemical,  product  and  waste 
legislation; (iii) a report on critical raw materials; and (iv) 
a  framework  to  monitor  progress  towards  a  circular 
economy2. 

According  to  the  10  indicators  in  the  circular  economy 
monitoring framework, Poland is below the EU average in 
circular  (secondary)  use  of  material  (10.2 %  in  2016, 
compared  with  an  EU  average  of  11.7 %).  However, 
larger  proportion  of  people 
Poland  has  a  slightly 
employed  in  the  circular  economy  (2.21 %  of  total 
employment  in  2016,  compared  with  an  EU  average  of 
1.73 %). 

In 2015, the Minister for Economic Development set up a 
multi-stakeholder group tasked with developing a circular 
economy roadmap.  

In  January  2018,  the  roadmap  for 
'Transformation 
towards  a  Circular  Economy'3  was  opened  for  public 
consultation. The roadmap will cover four main strategic 
areas: 

- Sustainable industrial production 

- Sustainable consumption 

- The bio-economy 

- New business models  

However, while Poland may expect improvements in eco-

1 European Commission, 2018 Circular Economy Package. 
2 COM(2018) 029. 
3 Roadmap for transformation towards Circular Economy. 

innovation investment and activities in the coming years, 
the  overall  shift  towards  a  more  resource-efficient 
economy will require long-term systemic innovation.  

Poland  performs  below  the  EU  average  in  terms  of 
resource  productivity  (i.e.  how  efficiently  the  economy 
uses  material  resources  to  produce  wealth),  with 
EUR 0.63 EUR/kg  in  2017  (the  EU  average  is  EUR 2.04 
/kg).4  As  shown  in  Figure  1,  this  represents  a  slight  but 
steady 
resource 
productivity  was  down  slightly 
in  2016  and  2017 
compared with previous years.  
Figure 1: Resource productivity 2010-20175 

since  2011.  However, 

increase 

The number of EU Ecolabel products and EMAS-licensed 
organisations in a given country provide some indication 
of  the  extent  to  which  the  private  sector  and  national 
stakeholders  in  general  are  engaged  in  the  transition  to 
the  circular  economy.  They  also  show  how  committed 
public authorities are to supporting the circular economy. 
In  September 2018,  Poland  had  2 560  products  and  35 
licences  registered  in  the  EU  Ecolabel  scheme  out  of  71 
707  products  and  2  167  licences  in  the  EU  as  a  whole6. 
Moreover,  69  Polish  organisations  are  currently 
registered  in  EMAS7,  the  European  Commission's  eco-
management and audit scheme. 

According  to  the  2017  Eurobarometer  on  EU  citizens' 

4 Resource productivity is defined as the ratio between gross domestic 
product (GDP) and domestic material consumption (DMC). 
5 European Commission, Eurostat, Resource productivity. 
6 European Commission, Ecolabel Facts and Figures. 
7 As of May 2018. European Commission, Eco-Management and Audit 
Scheme. 

4 

 
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

Eco-innovation  
In 2018, Poland ranked 25th on the European Innovation 
Scoreboard,  being  the  14th  fastest  growing  innovator 
(3.2%  increase  since  2010)10.  In  addition,  Poland  ranked 
26th  on  the  list  of  EU  countries  in  the  overall  Eco-
Innovation Scoreboard for 2017, measuring environment-
related  aspects  of  innovation,  with  a  total  score  of  59 
(see figure 3). 
Figure 3: 2017 Eco-innovation index (EU=100)11 

attitudes  towards  the  environment8,  86 %  of  Polish 
people  said  they  were  concerned  about  the  effects  of 
plastic  products  on  the  environment,  while  88 %  were 
worried about the impact of chemicals. 

SMEs and resource efficiency 

Polish SMEs continue to score in line with the EU average 
in the environmental dimension of the small business act, 
as  Figure  2  shows.  While  the  proportion  of  Polish  SMEs 
that  have  taken  resource  efficiency  measures  is  a  bit 
below  the  EU  average,  the  percentage  that  offer  green 
products  and  services  is  slightly  above  the  EU  average. 
Moreover,  companies  that  take  resource  efficiency 
measures  or  green  themselves  through  innovation  in 
products  and  services  enjoy  much  more  public  support 
than the EU average.  
Figure 2: Environmental performance of SMEs9  

As  Figure  4  shows,  Poland  is  among  the  countries  that 
have  persistently  scored  low  on  the  European  Eco-
innovation Scoreboard since 2010.  

Figure 4: Poland's eco-innovation performance 

Polish companies' performance and ambition in terms of 
investing in resource efficiency are largely in line with the 
EU average.  

Financial support from both public and private sources is 
well  developed  and  appreciated.  In  contrast,  public  and 
private  consultancy  seems  less  developed,  but  might 
have  to  offset  the  decreasing  appreciation  of  business 
associations’ support services sooner or later. 

Poland  has  the  following  barriers  to  eco-innovation  and 
the circular economy:  

  difficult  access  to  capital,  the  relatively  high  cost  of 

eco-innovative technologies; 

8European Commission, 2017, Special 468 Eurobarometer, "Attitudes of 
European citizens towards the environment'. 
9 European Commission, 2018 SBA fact sheet - Poland, p.14. 

10 European Commission, European innovation Scoreboard 2018. 
11 Eco-innovation Observatory: Eco-Innovation scoreboard 2017. 

6 

 
                                                                 
 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

 

 

 

insufficient  research  effort,  weak  industry-science 
links; 
companies'  insufficient  awareness  about  benefits  of 
and 
eco-innovative 
implementing 
reluctance  to  take  the  risk  of  adopting  eco-
innovations; 
customers' insufficient awareness of benefits of eco-
innovative technologies.  

solutions 

Public  procurement  law  and  practices  in  Poland  have 
done  little  to  encourage  eco-innovation  so  far.  The 
requirements  set  in  the  new  national  action  plan  for 
sustainable  public  procurement  (2017-2020)  are  non-
binding  on  many  industries,  especially  in  the  waste  and 
water sectors. 

Eco-innovation  and  circular  economy  policy  measures 
and funding schemes in Poland since 2013 include:  

 
 

 

 

the National Smart Specialisations (2014), 
new  provisions  on  municipal  waste  implemented  in 
2013 as well as their subsequent improvements,  
the  operational  programme  for  innovative  growth 
(2014 – 2020), 
the  operational  programme  for  infrastructure  and 
(2014  –  2020)  and  priority 
the  environment 
programmes of the National Fund for Environmental 
Protection and Water Management.  

The  National  Plan 
for  Sustainable  Development, 
envisages  an  increase  of  overall  spending  on  R&D  to 
reach to 2 % of GDP by 2020.  

New act on innovation adopted in January 2018 provides 
incentives for R&D investments such as 150 % tax credit, 
depreciation  of  buildings  amongst  eligible  costs  and 
granting  status  of  Research  and  Development  Center 
(RDC) to enterprises.  

The  Polish  Government  sees  investing  in  environmental 
technologies  as 
important.  For  example,  74  Polish 
companies  involved  in  developing  green  technologies 
were  supported  between  2010  and  2015  under  the 
GreenEvo12 initiative, coordinated by the Ministry of the 
Environment. A new edition of GreenEvo started in June 
2018. 

2019 priority action 

 

Strengthen  the  policy  framework  to  speed  up  the 
transition  towards  the  circular  economy  by  all 
economic sectors. 

12 Project GreenEvo. 

7 

Waste management  

Turning waste into a resource is supported by: 
legislation,  which 
implementing  EU  waste 
(i)  fully 
includes  the  waste  hierarchy,  the  need  to  ensure 
separate  collection  of  waste,  the 
landfill  diversion 
targets, etc.; 
 (ii) reducing waste generation and waste generation per 
capita in absolute terms; and  
(iii)  limiting  energy  recovery  to  non-recyclable  materials 
and  phasing  out  landfilling  of  recyclable  or  recoverable 
waste. 

This  section  focuses  on  management  of  municipal 
waste13  for  which  EU  law  sets  mandatory  recycling 
targets14. 

Figure  5:  Municipal  waste  treatment  in  Poland,  2010-
201715 

In  2017,  Poland  generated  315 kg/y/inhabitant  of 
municipal waste. This is well below the EU average (487 
kg per capita)16.  

The data reported by Poland show that 34 % of municipal 
waste is recycled (i.e. material recycling and composting 
altogether) which is below the EU average of 46 % (Figure 
6).  

13 Municipal waste consists of mixed waste and separately collected 
waste from households and from other sources, where such waste is 
similar in nature and composition to waste from households. This is 
without prejudice to the allocation of responsibilities for waste 
management between public and private sectors. 
14 See Article 11.2 of Directive 2008/98/EC. This Directive was amended 
in 2018 by Directive (EU) 2018/851, and more ambitious recycling 
targets were introduced for the period up to 2035. 
15 European Commission, Eurostat, Municipal waste by waste 
operations.  
16 European Commission, Eurostat, Municipal waste by waste 
operations. 

                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

Figure 6: Recycling rate of municipal waste, 2010-201717 

In the past three years, Poland has taken significant steps 
towards  improving  its  waste  treatment,  however,  this 
still remains to be demonstrated by the statistics. Despite 
a  steady  decrease,  landfilling  remains  a  predominant 
form of  waste treatment  with a  rate of 42% in 2016, an 
improvement since 2014. However, it is still above the EU 
average  (24%).  In  2018,  the  roll-out  of  a  new  electronic 
database  on  waste  started.  This  should  help  solve  the 
problem  with 
improve  monitoring  of 
movement of waste, and help curb illegal activity. 

statistics, 

There have been some positive developments that are in 
line  with  the  recommendations  made  to  Poland  in  the 
previous  EIR.  The  landfill  fee  was  reformed,  so  as  to 
progressively  increase  rates  and  discourage  disposal  of 
municipal  waste,  including  separately  collected  waste 
and  waste  suitable  for  energy  recovery.  Rules  on 
separate  collection  were  also  standardised  at  national 
level, including a new obligation to collect biodegradable 
waste  separately.  However,  the  extent  to  which  they 
succeed  will  depend  to  a  great  extent  on  proper 
implementation and enforcement in the regions.  

In  principle,  the  updated  National  Waste  Management 
Plan and the regional waste management plans prioritise 
separate  collection  and  recycling.  They  provide  for 
significant  investment  in  selected  waste  collection  sites, 
conversion  of 
schemes,  and 
separate 
collection 
sort 
to 
treatment 
mechanical-biological 
separately  collected  waste  and  compost  biodegradable 
waste. There are plans to invest in new waste-to-energy 
facilities  or  co-incineration.  While  the  national  waste 
incineration 
is  designed  to 
management  plan 
capacity  to  30 %,  there  are  concerns  that  there  will  be 
pressure  for  a  greater  capacity  of  energy  recovery  to 
treat the output of numerous residual waste plants. 

facilities 

limit 

17 European Commission, Eurostat, Recycling rate of municipal waste. 

8 

Illegal  landfilling  and  dumping  waste  in  forests  continue 
to  be  a  pressing  problem,  despite  Poland’s  ongoing 
efforts to clean up the dumping sites. Following a  series 
of  waste  fires  in  2018,  some  revisions  of  laws  on  waste 
were adopted, entering into force on 5 September 2018. 
The aims included: 

 

 

 

 

tightening up the enforcement measures to be taken 
by  the  environmental  inspectorates  and  introducing 
more stringent penalties, 
limiting  the  length  of  time  for  which  waste  can  be 
stored before treatment, 
adding  stricter  rules  on  the  bodies  involved  in 
managing and disposing of waste, and 
banning shipments from abroad of residual waste for 
disposal. 

The  Commission's  early  warning  report18  shortlists 
Poland  among  countries  considered  to  be  at  risk  of 
missing the 2020 municipal waste recycling target.19 The 
report 
includes  policy  recommendations  for  Poland. 
focus  on  making  separate  collection  more 
These 
effective,  including  by  helping  municipalities  meet  their 
obligations;  and 
improving  the  extended  producer 
responsibility  schemes,  especially  for  packaging;  and 
proper enforcement.20 Beyond the recommendations for 
the shorter term, more effort will be needed to meet the 
recycling targets set for after 202021. 

study22  on 

recent 

to  a 
the  End-of-Life  Vehicles 

Finally,  according 
the 
(ELV) 
implementation  of 
Directive23,  around  one  third  of  all  illegally  dismantled 
vehicles  in  the  EU  'disappear'  in  Poland.  That  translates 
to one million vehicles per year, suggesting that as many 
as 85 % of all  scrapped vehicles  may be scraped illegally 
in  Poland.  One  of  the  reasons  for  this  large-scale  illegal 
dismantling is that Poland has no penalties for the lack of 
vehicle  registration.  As  Poland  has  the  oldest  fleet  of 
passenger  cars  in  the  EU  and  imports  of  used  cars  are 
increasing,  this  policy  area  calls  for  particular  attention 
and  stronger  enforcement,  both  as 
regards  ELV 
treatment and in the context of air pollution.  

18 European Commission report on the implementation of EU waste 
legislation, including the early warning report for Member States at risk 
of missing the 2020 preparation for re-use/recycling target on municipal 
waste, COM(2018) 656 and SWD(2018) 422. 
19 Member States may choose a different method than the one used by 
ESTAT (and referred to in this report) to calculate their recycling rates 
and track compliance with the 2020 target of 50 % recycling of 
municipal waste. 
20 European Commission, Early warning report for Poland, SWD(2018) 
426 final  
21 Directive (EU) 2018/851, Directive (EU) 2018/852, Directive (EU) 
2018/850 and Directive (EU) 2018/849 amend the previous waste 
legislation and set more ambitious recycling targets for the period up to 
2035. These targets will be taken into consideration to assess progress 
in future Environmental Implementation Reports. 
22European Commission, Study on ELV Directive. 
23 Directive 2000/53/EC on end-of life vehicles 

 
                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

obligations  for  2016  Poland  will  have  to  use  allocations 
banked  in  previous  years,  or  avail  itself  of  other  flexible 
solutions under the Effort Sharing Decision. In 2017, ESD 
emissions  were  3 %  higher  than  the  annual  emission 
allocations,  according  to  preliminary  data.  For  2020, 
Poland's  national  target  under  this  Decision  is  to  avoid 
increasing emissions by more than 14 % over 2005 levels. 
Its  national  target  for  2030  under  the  Effort  Sharing 
Regulation will be to cut emissions by 7 % compared with 
2005 (see Figure 8).  

Figure  7:  Change  in  total  greenhouse  gas  emissions 
1990-2017 (1990=100 %)25. 

2019 priority actions 

 

introducing 

Consider 
incineration  fees  to  more 
effectively  divert  waste  towards  the  higher  end  of 
the waste hierarchy and to make recycling and reuse 
economically  attractive,  as  indicated  in  the  national 
Waste Management Plan.  

 

introduce  effective  penalties 

  Avoid  building  excessive  infrastructure  for  waste 
rehabilitate  non-
incineration,  and  close  and 
compliant  landfills.  Improve  financial  incentives  to 
encourage  better  selective  collection  of  waste  by 
households. 
Continue efforts to better enforce waste legislation; 
in  particular, 
for 
municipalities or local authorities, to ensure they put 
more  effort  into  curbing  illegal  waste  dumping,  and 
establish a system of checks on end-of-life vehicles. 
Improve  the  functioning  of  extended  producer 
responsibility  schemes,  in  line  with  the  general 
minimum requirements on EPR24. 
Set  up  a  national  project  giving  municipalities 
technical 
their 
with  meeting 
implementation 
and  enforcement  obligations, 
especially  as  regards  separate  collection,  checks  on 
bodies dealing with waste management, functioning 
of EPR, etc. 

assistance 

 

 

Climate change  

The EU has committed to undertaking  ambitious climate 
action internationally as well as in the EU, having ratified 
the Paris Climate Agreement on 5 October 2016. The EU 
targets are to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 
20 % by 2020 and by at least 40 % by 2030, compared to 
1990.  As  a  long-term  target,  the  EU  aims  to  reduce  its 
emissions  by  80-95 %  by  2050,  as  part  of  the  efforts 
required by developed countries as a group. Adapting to 
the adverse effects of climate change is vital to alleviate 
its  already  visible  effects  and  improve  preparedness  for 
and resilience to future impacts. 

The EU emissions trading system (EU ETS) covers all large 
greenhouse  gas  emitters  in  the  industry,  power  and 
aviation  sectors  in  the  EU.  The  EU  ETS  applies  in  all 
Member States and has a very high compliance rate. Each 
year,  installations  cover  around  99 %  of  their  emissions 
with the required number of allowances.  

For emissions not covered by the  EU's emissions trading 
scheme (ETS), EU countries have binding national targets 
under  the  Effort  Sharing  legislation.  Poland  had  lower 
effort sharing  legislation (ESD) emissions than its annual 
emission  allocations 
in  2016 
emissions  slightly  exceeded  the  allocations.  To  meet  its 

in  2013-2015,  while 

24 Directive (EU) 2018/851. 

The  greenhouse  gas  intensity  of  the  Polish  economy 
(emissions  per  unit  GDP)  exceeds  the  EU  average  by 
three  fold.  On  positive  side,  Poland  managed  to  reduce 
GHG  emissions  by  13%  (between  1990  and  2017,  see 
Figure 7) while increasing its GDP by 176%.  

The  draft  of  Polish  energy  policy  until  2040  was 
submitted  to  public  consultations  in  November  2018.  It 
envisages  a  large  role  of  fossil  fuels  at  least  until  2040. 
The  draft  assumes  a  strong  growth  of  electricity 
production. Coal (both lignite and hard coal) is to remain 
the main fuel until 2030 and its share in energy mix is to 
decline  thereafter.  The  construction  of  a  first  nuclear 
power  plant  (1-1.5  GW)  is  planned  by  2033,  and  its 
extension  until  2043.  Onshore  wind  generation  is  to 
decline,  despite  its  effectiveness  recently  confirmed  in 
the November 2018 auction for 1 GW renewable energy 

25 Annual European Union greenhouse gas inventory 1990–2016 (EEA 
greenhouse gas data viewer). Proxy GHG emission estimates for 
2017Approximated EU greenhouse gas inventory 2017 (European 
Environment Agency). Member States national projections, reviewed by 
the European Environment Agency. 

9 

                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

gradually  reduces  the  amount  of  hydrofluorocarbons 
placed on the market in the EU.  

Figure 9: Greenhouse gas emissions by sector (Mt. CO2-
eq.). Historical data 1990-2016. Projections 2017-203027. 

generation.  At  the  same  time,  the  document  envisages 
tapping the significant potential for offshore wind energy 
(up  to  10  GW).  By  2030  share  of  renewables  in  final 
energy  consumption  is  to  reach  21 %.  Reduction  of  CO2 
emissions  should  reach  30 %  and  increase  of  energy 
efficiency  estimated  at  the  level  of  23 %  by  2030.  In 
parallel,  Poland  prepares  its  draft  national  energy  and 
climate  plan  2021-2030  and  updates  several  other 
sectorial  strategies  i.e.:  draft  climate  policy  of  Poland 
2030,  draft  sustainable  transport  development  strategy 
2030 and draft strategy of agriculture development 2020-
2030.  Two  programmes  are  already  adopted;  the 
programme  for  the  hard  coal  mining  sector  and  the 
programme  for  the  lignite  coal  mining  sector.  So  far, 
Poland  has  not  submitted  information  on  a  low  carbon 
development strategy for 2050.  

Figure  8:  Targets  and  emissions  for  Poland  under  the 
Effort Sharing Decision and Effort Sharing Regulation26. 

As of 2021, emissions and removals of greenhouse gases 
from LULUCF28 will be included in EU emission reduction 
efforts.  The  quantities  reported  for  Poland  under  the 
Kyoto  Protocol  show  net  removals  averaging  38.3  Mt 
CO2-eq29  for  the  period  2013  to  2016  (Figure  9).  Poland 
thus  contributes  10.0 %  of  the  EU  28’s  annual  average 
sink of -384.4 Mt CO2-eq. Accounting for the same period 
shows  net  credits  averaging  11.1  Mt  CO2-eq,  which 
corresponds  to  9.6 %  of  the  EU-28  accounted  sink  of  -
115.7  Mt  CO2-eq.  There  is  a  decrease  in  reported  net 
removals  and  accounted  net  credits  between  2013  and 
2015 and a slight increase for 2016.  

The  EU  Strategy  on  adaptation  to  climate  change, 
adopted  in  2013,  aims  to  make  Europe  more  climate-
resilient, by promoting action by Member States, better-
informed  decision  making,  and  promoting  adaptation  in 
key vulnerable sectors. By adopting a coherent approach 
and  providing  for  improved  coordination,  it  seeks  to 
enhance the preparedness and capacity of all governance 
levels to respond to the impacts of climate change.  

At EU level, sectoral climate legislation has been adopted 
to  incentivize  emissions  reductions  from  transport,  the 
maritime sector and fluorinated gases used in products.  

Transport represents almost a quarter of EU greenhouse 
gas  emissions  and  is  the  main  cause  of  air  pollution  in 
cities.  Transport  emissions  in  Poland  increased  by  14 % 
from 2012 to 2016.  

In  2013,  the  Polish  Government  adopted  the  'National 
Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change by 2020 with 
the perspective by 2030' (NAS 2020). In addition, 44 cities 
of above 100 000  inhabitants are developing adaptation 

Poland  has  notified  the  Commission  of  measures 
regarding  training  and  certification  programmes  and  of 
rules on penalties to ensure compliance with Regulation 
on fluorinated gases and the Directive on air conditioning 
systems  used  in  small  motor  vehicles.  The  aim  is  to 
control  emissions  of  fluorinated  greenhouse  gases  and 

26Proxy GHG emission estimates for 2017Approximated EU greenhouse 
gas inventory 2017 (European Environment Agency). Member States 
national projections, reviewed by the European Environment Agency. 

27 Annual European Union greenhouse gas inventory 1990–2016 (EEA 
greenhouse gas data viewer). Proxy GHG emission estimates for 2017 
Approximated EU greenhouse gas inventory 2017 (European 
Environment Agency). Member States national projections, reviewed by 
the European Environment Agency. 
28 Regulation on the inclusion of greenhouse gas emissions and 
removals from land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) 
29 Eurostat: A carbon dioxide equivalent or CO2 equivalent, abbreviated 
as CO2-eq is a metric measure used to compare the emissions from 
various greenhouse gases on the basis of their global-warming 
potential, by converting amounts of other gases to the equivalent 
amount of carbon dioxide with the same global warming potential. 

10 

 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

action  plans.  The  NAS  2020,  alongside  the  strategic 
objectives,  sets  out  a  number  of  relevant  monitoring 
indicators.  However,  no  systematic  framework  has  yet 
been  developed  and  there  is  no  monitoring  of  the 
strategy,  although  plans  for  such  monitoring  exist. 
Evaluation  of  NAS  2020  got  under  way  in  2017  and  a 
comprehensive  system  for  the  monitoring  of  adaption 
policy  is  currently  being  developed  in  connection  with 
work on the national environment policy for 2018 – 2030.  

Revision of NAS is planned for year 2020. It will be based 
on  the  outcome  of  the  project  ‘Klimada  2.0’  which 
assesses effectiveness of  measures  in sectors  vulnerable 
to climate change.  

The total revenues  from auctioning emission allowances 
under  the  EU  ETS  over  years  2013-2017  were  EUR  1097 
million. Poland does not earmark auctioning revenues for 
specific uses. It is reported that an amount equal to 62 % 
of  auctioning  revenues  has  been  spent  on  climate  and 
energy purposes.  

2019 priority action 

In this report, no priority actions have been included on 
climate action, as the Commission will first need to assess 
the  draft  national  energy  and  climate  plans  which  the 
Member  States  needed  to  send  by  end  of  2018.  These 
plans  should  increase  the  consistency  between  energy 
and climate policies and could therefore become a good 
example  of  how  to  link  sector-specific  policies  on  other 
interlinked themes  such as agriculture-nature-water and 
transport-air-health.  

11 

 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

2. Protecting, conserving and enhancing natural capital 

Nature and Biodiversity  

in  the  EU  by  2020. 

The  EU  biodiversity  strategy  aims  to  halt  the  loss  of 
full 
biodiversity 
implementation  of  the  Birds  and  Habitats  Directives  to 
achieve  favourable  conservation  status  of  protected 
species and habitats. It also requires that the agricultural 
improve 
and  forest  sectors  help  to  maintain  and 
biodiversity. 

It  requires 

Biodiversity strategy 

the  Programme  of  conservation  and 
Poland  has 
sustainable  use  of  biodiversity  and  the  Action  Plan30  for 
2015-2020.  

Setting up a coherent network of Natura 2000 sites  

Compliance  with  the 
legal  requirement  for  the  EU 
countries  to  establish  a  coherent  national  network  of 
Natura 2000 sites is being assessed individually for each 
species  and  habitat  type  occurring  on  the  countries' 
national territory.  

In  early  2018,  Poland  scored  slightly  above  the  EU 
average on the percentage of land territory designated as 
Natura  2000  (19.6 %  of  land  territory,  while  the  EU 
average is 18.17 %).  

By  May  2018,  114  sites  had  been  designated  as  Special 
Areas  of  Conservation  (SACs),  and  the  designation 
process is under way for a further 180 sites.  

Conservation  objectives  and  measures  for  Natura  2000 
sites are set  out  in the management  plans ('Plany zadań 
ochronnych').  These  plans,  adopted  for  10  years  by  the 
Regional  Directors  of  Environmental  Protection  both  for 
Importance  (SCIs)  and  Special 
Sites  of  Community 
Protection Areas (SPAs), are legally binding. By May 2018, 
558 sites (56.53 %) had valid management plans. 

restoring 
in  maintaining  or 
Progress 
conservation status of species and habitats 

favourable 

Since  EU  countries  report  every  six  years  on  progress 
made  under  the  two  directives,  no  new  information  is 
available  on  the  state  of  natural  habitats  and  species  or 
on  progress  towards  better  conservation  status  for 
species and habitats in Poland, as compared to the 2017 
EIR.  However, 
recent 
there  have  been 
improvements  in  the  status  of  species  and  habitats  in 
Poland. 

some 

The  main  challenges  arising  from  Natura 2000  remain. 
Further  efforts  are  needed  to  finalise  the  designation 
process, adopt management plans for the remaining sites 
and  allocate  sufficient  resources  to  site  management 
(both for public bodies and for the landowners managing 
the  sites).  Measures  are  needed  to  improve  knowledge 
and  education  about  Natura  2000,  to  promote  social 
acceptance and benefits from the Natura 2000 network.  

fast-developing 

threatened  by 

The coherence of the Natura 2000 network continues to 
infrastructure, 
be 
especially urban sprawl, the regulation and maintenance 
of  rivers,  road  transport,  and  intensive  agriculture.  A 
cost-benefit  approach  to  nature  should  be  promoted 
when  developing  infrastructure  projects.  This  ensures 
that  the  costs  of  developing  infrastructure  are  properly 
weighted  against  the  costs  of  lost  ecosystem  services 
provided  by  nature,  such  as  water  supply,  better  air 
quality, and opportunities for tourism and recreation. 

Designating Natura 2000 sites and setting conservation 
objectives and measures 

Many  environmental  problems  stem  from 
lack  of 
appropriate  spatial  planning.  Territorial  expansion  of 

The  designation  of  sites  in  the  Natura  2000  network  is 
not  yet  complete.  There  are  still  gaps,  particularly  as 
regards certain marine species.31  

30 Programme of Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity and 
Action Plan. 
31 For each Member State, the Commission assesses whether the 

species and habitat types in Annexes I and II to the Habitats Directive 
are sufficiently represented by the sites designated to date. This is 
expressed as a percentage of species and habitats for which further 
areas need to be designated in order to complete the network in that 
country. A scientific reserve is given when further research is needed to 
identify the most appropriate sites to be added for a species or habitat. 
The current data, which were assessed in 2014-2015, reflect the 
situation up until December 2013. 

12 

 
 
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                                                        
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

cities and towns, coupled with dispersed development in 
suburban  zones,  sprawling  into  formerly  non-urbanised 
areas,  creates  spatial  chaos  and  spoils  the  environment. 
The  costs  to  society  are  also  substantial,  as  these 
transport 
require  extra 
sprawling 
connections and other services at far higher costs than in 
compact areas. 

roads, 

areas 

Extending  the  length  and  width  of  roads  and  road 
network density in Poland often goes hand in hand with 
cutting back roadside vegetation. Roadside trees, seen as 
a risk to drivers, are removed. Yet they often provide an 
important habitat for protected species of birds, bats and 
insects.  They  also  provide  shade  and  reduce  the  'heat 
island'  effect.  Maintaining  and  developing  roadside 
vegetation  has  aesthetic  value,  but  it  can  be  also  a 
significant climate adaptation measure. 

In  addition  to  urbanisation,  rural  areas  are  affected  by 
two opposing phenomena  which  adversely affect nature 
conservation:  intensification  and  abandonment.  Highly 
productive  areas  are  farmed  increasingly  intensively, 
leaving  even  less  space  for  nature.  In  less  productive 
areas, on the other hand, farming is abandoned, making 
them vulnerable to overgrowth and thus less suitable for 
species  that  depend  on  extensive  farming.  Changes  in 
farming  reduce  the  surface  area  or  degrade  many  types 
of  natural  or  semi-natural  ecosystems  and  landscape 
features,  such  as  small  ponds,  oxbow 
lakes,  water 
meadows,  xerothermic  (hot  and  dry)  grasslands,  and 
riparian  forests  (forests  next  to  rivers  or  streams).  The 
result  is  significant  landscape  impoverishment.  These 
negative  trends  can  be  tackled  by  designing  financial 
incentives  for  farmers  to  set  aside  certain  areas  to 
encourage  biodiversity  (in  intensively  farmed  areas)  and 
though  not 
to  compensate 
economically 
for  preserving 
include  hay  production,  grazing 
biodiversity.  These 
animals  in  certain  areas,  and  keeping  fallow  strips  and 
hedges. 

for  activities  which, 

crucial 

viable, 

are 

In  the  last  decade,  the  regulation  and  technological 
modification  of  rivers  (shortening  of  river  courses, 
together  with the uniformisation of river beds, dredging 
and  construction  of  hard  embankments,  construction  of 
weirs and hydropower infrastructure), combined with the 
removal  of  riparian  zones  has  become  a  significant 
problem in Poland. These changes not only make it more 
difficult to achieve objectives under EU nature and water 
legislation,  but  also  affect  the  quantity  and  quality  of 
water, as well as increasing the risk of flooding.  

Challenges  in  reconciling  forest  management  with  the 
conservation objectives established for Natura 2000 sites 
that  overlap  with  forest  areas  persist.  The  European 
Court  of  Justice  confirmed  a  breach  of  the  Habitats  and 
Birds  Directives  through  forest  management  carried  out 
in  Białowieża  forest.  This  issue  seems  to  be  of  wider 

13 

concern. In particular, the obligations under Polish law on 
forest  management  do  not  seem  to  take  sufficient 
account  of  bans  designed  to  ensure  strict  protection 
arrangements  for  species,  including  the  grounds  for 
granting  derogations.  For  example,  the  code  of  good 
forestry  practice  applicable  to  forest  activities  does  not 
identify  practices  which  would  ensure  that  protected 
species are not killed or disturbed, or that their breeding 
or  resting  places  are  not  destroyed.  Nor  does  it  contain 
any  requirement  that  derogations  from  the  strict 
protection  regime  may  be  applied 
is  no 
satisfactory  alternative.  This  seems  to 
lead  to  the 
exclusion  of  forest  activities  from  the  provisions  of  the 
Birds and Habitats Directives. 

if  there 

Although forest  cover is  expanding,  the condition of the 
forest  habitat  and  its  species  does  not  seem  to  be 
improving.  A  possible  explanation  is  the  promotion  of 
fast-growing  species  such  as  pine  or  spruce,  without 
enough  dead  wood  or  areas  of  old-growth  forest  being 
left  for  natural  regeneration.  Polish  forests  have  about 
5.8  m3  of  dead  wood  per  hectare,  far  below  the 
European average of 11.5 m3/ha, and even further below 
values in northern Europe (approx. 20 m3/ha)32. 

2019 priority actions 

 

 

Complete  the  Natura  2000  designation  process  and 
put  in  place  clearly  defined  conservation  objectives 
and the necessary conservation measures for sites to 
maintain/restore species and habitats of community 
interest  to  a  favourable  conservation  status  across 
their natural range. 
Establish  appropriate  forest  management  practices 
to ensure full compliance with the Habitats and Birds 
Directives.  

Maintaining and restoring ecosystems and 
their services 

The EU biodiversity strategy aims to maintain and restore 
ecosystems  and  their  services  by 
including  green 
infrastructure  in  spatial  planning  and  restoring  at  least 
15 %  of  degraded  ecosystems  by  2020.  The  EU  green 
infrastructure  strategy  promotes  the  incorporation  of 
green infrastructure into related plans and programmes. 

Poland has a range of policies and strategies to promote 
green  infrastructure  activities.  Many  aspects  of  these 
activities,  such  as  ecological  corridors  linking  protected 
areas,  are  implemented  through  the  Programme  of 
conservation  and  sustainable  use  of  biodiversity  and 
Action Plan for 2015-202033.  

32 State of Europe's Forests 2015 Report.  
33 Official Journal Of The Republic Of Poland, Biodiversity and Action 
Plan for 2015-2020. 

                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

Estimating Natural Capital 

The  EU  biodiversity  strategy  calls  on  Member  States  to 
map  and  assess  the  state  of  ecosystems  and  their 
services37 in their national territories by 2014, assess the 
economic  value  of  such  services  and  integrate  these 
values  into  accounting  and  reporting  systems  at  EU  and 
national level by 2020. 

In  2015,  the  Ministry  of  Environment  completed 
the mapping  and  assessment  of  ecosystems  and  their 
services  (MAES)  process38  and  mapping  and  assessment 
of  urban  ecosystems39.  An  ecosystem  services  approach 
in  environment  management  was  adopted  in  2018,  but 
the  extent  to  which  MAES  has  been  integrated  into 
national policies remains largely undocumented. 

At  the  final  Esmeralda  workshop  and  MAES  Working 
Group  meeting  in  Brussels  in  September  2018,  Poland 
showed  some  progress  with  implementing  MAES.  The 
the 
assessment  has  been  conducted  as  part  of 
ESMERALDA project40 (Figure 10).  

Figure 10: Implementation of MAES (September 2018) 

The Polish Business and Biodiversity Platform41 is a global 
partner  of  the  Business  and  Biodiversity  Initiative  of  the 
Convention on Biological Diversity. The Platform, which is 
supported  by  the  Ministry  of  the  Environment,  brings 
industry 
institutions,  academia,  experts, 
together 
associations  and  advisors  to  support  entrepreneurs  in 
creating sustainable business models.  

In rural areas, green infrastructure measures can take the 
following forms: 

 
existing forms of nature conservation, 
 
developing sustainable farming and forestry, 
 
 preserving the mosaic structure of rural areas, 
  measures  to  reduce  water  pollution,  with  the 
support  of  CAP  direct  payments  for  greening, 
and cross-compliance, 

  maintaining  a  given  proportion  of  farmland  as 

permanent grassland.  

The EU has provided guidance on the further deployment 
of  green  and  blue  infrastructure  in  Poland34  and  a 
country page on the Biodiversity Information System for 
Europe  (BISE)35.  This  information  will  also  contribute  to 
the  final  evaluation  of  the  EU  Biodiversity  Strategy  to 
2020. 

Green  infrastructure  projects  in  Poland  benefit  from 
various  sources  of  finance,  including  EU,  national  and 
regional  funds.  An  example  is  the  GreenGo!  project, 
designed  to  raise  awareness  and  increase  biological 
diversity in rural areas36. Although decision-makers know 
about  these 
for 
individual  measures  and  failure  to  integrate  biodiversity 
adequately into sectoral policies militate against effective 
implementation.  Further  efforts  are  needed  to  deploy 
green  and  blue  infrastructure  and  mainstreaming  it  in 
other policies consistent with the framework for mapping 
and assessment of ecosystems and their services (MAES). 

funding  sources, 

finance 

limited 

34 The recommendations of the green infrastructure strategy review 
report and the EU Guidance on a strategic framework for further 
supporting the deployment of EU-level green and blue infrastructure. 
35 Biodiversity Information System for Europe. 
36 GreenGo! Project website. 

37 Ecosystem services are benefits provided by nature such as food, 
clean water and pollination on which human society depends. 
38 Mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services in Poland, 
MAES. 
39 Urban MAES - Ecosystem Services in Urban Areas, Urban MAES. 
40 ESMERALDA project. 
41 Polish B@B Platform. 

14 

 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

Invasive alien species 

Under  the  EU  biodiversity  strategy,  the  following  are  to 
be achieved by 2020:  
(i) invasive alien species identified;  
(ii) priority species controlled or eradicated; and  
(iii)  pathways  managed  to  prevent  new  invasive  species 
from disrupting European biodiversity.  
This  is  supported  by  the  Invasive  Alien  Species  (IAS) 
Regulation, which entered into force on 1 January 2015. 

Poland  submitted  four  risk  assessments  for  the  first 
update  of  the  EU  list:  common  milkweed  (Asclepias 
syriaca), Indian balsam (Impatiens glandulifera), Egyptian 
geese  (Alopochen  aegyptiacus)  and  American  bison 
(Bison bison). It also provided additional evidence for the 
need  to  reconsider  the  listing  of  sika  deer  (Cervus 
Nippon).  While  the  Scientific  Forum  disagreed  with  the 
risk  assessment  of  the  American  bison,  it  agreed  with 
those for Indian balsam, common milkweed and Egyptian 
geese.  These  species  were  considered  to  meet  the 
criteria for listing, and included in the EU list. The Forum 
confirmed that it did not consider sika deer to meet the 
criteria for listing.  

Figure  11:  Number  of  IAS  of  EU  concern,  based  on 
available georeferenced information for Poland42 

The  report  on  the  baseline  distribution  (Figure  11),  for 
which  Poland  reviewed  its  country  and  grid-level  data, 
shows that 13 of the 37 species on the first EU list have 
already been spotted in the wild in Poland. Of these, 11 
are  established,  the  most  widespread  being  spiny-cheek 
crayfish  (Orconectes  limosus)  and  Sosnowsky’s  hogweed 
(Hieracleum  sosnowskyi).  Moreover,  coypu  (Myocastor 
coypu) is observed sporadically and has not developed a 

42 Tsiamis K; Gervasini E; Deriu I; D`amico F; Nunes A; Addamo A; De 
Jesus Cardoso A. Baseline Distribution of Invasive Alien Species of Union 
concern. Ispra (Italy): Publications Office of the European Union, 2017. 

15 

reproducing  population,  while  it  is  widely  spread  in 
Czechia  and  to  a  lesser  extent  in  Germany.  Poland  is 
advised to closely follow the feral population and take all 
appropriate  measures  to  prevent  the  establishment  of 
the species in its territory. 

Between  the  entry  into  force  of  the  EU  list  (i.e  the  first 
list  on  03/08/2016,  first  update  on  02/08/2017)  and  18 
May  2018,  Poland  notified  no  new  appearances  of 
invasive alien species of EU concern, according to Article 
16(2) of the Invasive Alien Species (IAS) Regulation.  

responsible 

Poland  has  notified  the  Commission  of  the  competent 
IAS 
for 
authorities 
Regulation in Poland, as required by Article 24(2) of that 
Regulation. Work is in progress on a  national act setting 
out  the  penalties  for  infringements  required  by  Article 
30(4) of the IAS Regulation. 

implementing 

the 

Soil protection  

The  EU  soil  thematic  strategy  underlines  the  need  to 
ensure a  sustainable use of soils.  This  entails preventing 
further  soil  degradation  and  preserving  its  functions,  as 
well as restoring degraded soils. The 2011 Roadmap to a 
Resource Efficient Europe states that by 2020, EU policies 
must  take  into  account  their  direct  and  indirect  impact 
on land use. 

Soil  is  a  finite  and  extremely  fragile  resource  and  it  is 
increasingly degrading in the EU. 
The percentage of artificial land cover43 in Poland (Figure 
12) can be seen as a measure of the relative pressure on 
nature  and  biodiversity,  and  of  the  environmental 
pressure  on  people  living  in  urbanised  areas.  A  similar 
measure is population density.  

Poland  ranks  below  the  EU  average  for  artificial  land 
cover, with 3.4 % of artificial land (EU-28 average: 4.1 %). 
The  population  density  is  123.6/km2,  above  the  EU 
average of 11844. 

Contamination  can  severely  reduce  soil  quality  and 
threaten  human  health  or  the  environment.  A  recent 
report  of  the  European  Commission45  estimated  that 
potentially  polluting  activities  have  taken  or  are  still 

43 Artificial land cover is defined as the total of roofed built-up areas 
(including buildings and greenhouses), artificial non built-up areas 
(including sealed area features, such as yards, farmyards, cemeteries, 
car parking areas etc. and linear features, such as streets, roads, 
railways, runways, bridges) and other artificial areas (including bridges 
and viaducts, mobile homes, solar panels, power plants, electrical 
substations, pipelines, water sewage plants, and open dump sites). 
44 European Commission, Eurostat, Population density by NUTS 3 
region. 
45 Ana Paya Perez, Natalia Rodriguez Eugenio, Status of local soil 
contamination in Europe: Revision of the indicator “Progress in the 
management Contaminated Sites in Europe”, 2018. 

 
                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

taking place on approximately 2.8 million sites in the EU. 
At EU level,  650 000 of these sites have been registered 
in national or regional inventories. 65 500  contaminated 
sites  already  have  been  remediated.  Poland  has  not 
reported  the  national  progress  in  the  management  of 
contaminated sites and brownfields to the working group 
of 
Information  and 
Observation Network (EIONET).  
Figure 12: Proportion of artificial land cover, 2015 46 

the  European  Environment 

as values measured in situ. The actual soil loss rate may 
vary  considerably  within  the  EU  country  concerned, 
depending on local conditions. 

Organic  matter  in  soil  plays  an  important  role  in  the 
carbon cycle and in climate change. Soils are the second 
largest carbon sink in the world after the oceans.  

Marine protection 

EU coastal and marine policy and legislation require that 
by  2020  the  impact  of  pressures  on  marine  waters  be 
reduced  to  achieve  or  maintain  good  environmental 
status (GES) and ensure that coastal zones are managed 
sustainably. 

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)48 aims 
to achieve good environmental status of the EU’s marine 
waters  by  2020.  To  that  end,  Member  States  must 
develop  a  marine  strategy  for  their  marine  waters,  and 
cooperate  with  the  EU  countries  that  share  the  same 
marine (sub)region. 

For  Poland,  the  Baltic  Marine  Environment  Protection 
Commission  (Helsinki  Commission)  plays  an  important 
contribution  to  achieving  the  Directive’s  goals.  Poland’s 
programme  of  measures  is  fairly  consistent  with  the 
pressures and targets it defines. Sometimes it even goes 
beyond  them  these  targets  to  tackle  additional  aspects. 
For  example,  the  measures  for  non-indigenous  species 
relate to shipping and aquaculture, which Poland had not 
even reported as relevant pressures. Poland also reports 
measures  to  tackle  physical  damage  caused  by  trawl 
fishing,  pollution 
and 
wastewater  discharge.  However,  few  weaknesses  are 
acknowledged. It is unclear whether good environmental 
In  many  cases, 
status  will  be  achieved  by  2020. 
implementation 
moreover,  Poland 
fails  to  provide 
the  Polish 
timelines 
programme  of  measures  partially  addresses 
the 
requirements  of 
the  Marine  Strategy  Framework 
Directive.  

for  new  measures.  Overall, 

from  dumping 

sediment 

2019 priority actions 

 

 

Set  timelines  for  achieving  good  environmental 
status, when these have not been reported. 
Provide more information about measures, establish 
more  measures  that  have  a  direct  impact  on  the 
pressures  and  quantify  the  expected 
level  of 
reduction  of  the  pressure  as  a  result  of  these 
measures. 
Ensure reporting of the different elements under the 
Marine  Strategy  Framework  Directive  by  the  set 
deadline. 

48 Directive 2008/56/EC. 

16 

Soil  erosion  by  water  is  a  natural  process  which  can  be 
aggravated by climate change and human activities such 
as  inappropriate  agricultural  practices,  deforestation, 
forest  fires  or  construction  work.  High  levels  of  soil 
erosion  can  reduce  productivity 
in  agriculture  and 
adversely  affect  biodiversity  and  ecosystem  services 
across  boundaries,  as  well  as  rivers  and 
lakes  (by 
increasing  the  volume  of  sediments  and  transporting 
contaminants).  According  to  the  RUSLE2015  model47, 
Poland  has  an  average  soil  loss  rate  by  water  of  0.96 
tonnes per hectare per year (t ha−a yr−y), compared to the 
European  mean  of  2.46  t ha−a yr−y,  showing  that  soil 
erosion is low on average.  

Note,  however,  that  these  figures  are  the  output  of  a 
model run at EU level, so they should not be considered 

46 European Commission, Eurostat, Land covered by artificial surfaces by 
NUTS 2 regions.  
47 Panagos, P. et al., The new assessment of soil loss by water erosion in 
Europe, (2015) Environmental Science and Policy, 54, p. 438-447. 

 
                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

3. Ensuring citizens' health and quality of life 

Air quality  

EU clean air policy and legislation require the significant 
improvement  of  air  quality  in  the  EU,  moving  the  EU 
closer to the quality recommended by the World Health 
Organisation.  Air  pollution  and  its  impacts  on  human 
health,  ecosystems  and  biodiversity  should  be  further 
reduced with the long-term aim of not exceeding critical 
loads  and  levels.  This  requires  strengthening  efforts  to 
reach full compliance with EU air quality legislation and 
defining strategic targets and actions beyond 2020. 

The  EU  has  developed  a  comprehensive  body  of  air 
legislation49,  which  establishes  health-based 
quality 
standards and objectives for a number of air pollutants. 

Sectoral  emissions  of  some  air  pollutants  (SOx,  NOx, 
NH3)  had  fallen  in  Poland  by  2016  when  compared  to 
199050,  and  they  are  below  current  national  emission 
ceilings.51  The  reductions  between  1990  and  2014 
mentioned in the previous EIR continued from 2014 to 
2016: emissions of sulphur oxides (SOx) fell by 18.63 %, 
while  emissions  of  ammonia  (NH3)  were  down  by 
1.02 %.  Meanwhile,  emissions  of  volatile  organic 
compounds (NMVOCs) rose by 3.04 %, emissions of fine 
particulate  matter  PM2.5  by  3.83 %,  and  emissions  of 
nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 0.05 % between 2014 and 2016 
(see also Figure 13 on the total PM2.5 and NOx emissions 
per sector). 

Despite these reductions, further efforts are needed to 
meet emission reduction commitments (compared with 
2005  emission  levels)  laid  down  in  the  new  National 
Emissions Ceilings Directive52 for 2020-2029 and for any 
year from 2030. 

Air quality in Poland continues to give cause for severe 
concern.  The  European  Environment  Agency  estimated 
that  in  2015  about  44 500  premature  deaths  were 
attributable  to  fine  particulate  matter  concentrations, 
1 300  of  them  to  ozone  concentration53  and  1 700  to 
concentrations of nitrogen dioxide54.  

49 European Commission, Air Quality Standards, 2016. 
50 EEA, Air pollutant emissions data viewer (LRTAP Convention), 2016. 
51 The current national emission ceilings are mandatory since 2010 
(Directive 2001/81/EC); revised ceilings for 2020 and 2030 have been 
set by Directive (EU) 2016/2284 on the reduction of national 
emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants, amending Directive 
2003/35/EC and repealing Directive 2001/81/EC. 
52 Directive 2016/2284/EU. 
53 Low-level ozone is produced by photochemical action on pollution. 
54 EEA, Air Quality in Europe – 2018 Report, p.64. Please see details in 
this report as regards the underpinning methodology. 

Figure  13:  PM2.5  and  NOx  emissions  by  sector  in 
Poland55 

No  progress  has  been  made  on  improving  air  quality 
since  the  2017  EIR.  In  2017,  EU  air  quality  standards 
were  breached  in  most  air  quality  zones  (46  zones  in 
total)56:  for  particulate  matter  (PM10)  in  34  zones,  for 
fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in 19 zones, for nitrogen 
dioxide  (NO2)  in  four  zones  and  for  sulphur  dioxide 
(SO2) in one air quality zone. Moreover, benzo[a]pyrene 
limit  values  were  continuously  being  exceeded 
throughout  Polish  territory.  Figure  14  shows  the 
number of air  quality zones  with too much NO2, PM2.5, 
and PM10 as a proportion of the total number of zones.  

Figure  14:  Air  quality  zones  exceeding  EU  air  quality 
standards in 201757 

The  European  Commission  is  launching  infringement 
procedures  covering  all  EU  countries  concerned, 

55 2016 NECD data submitted by Member State to the EEA. 
56 EEA, EIONET Central Data Repository.  
57 EEA, EIONET Central Data Repository. Data reflects the reporting 
situation as of 26 November 2018. 

17 

 
                                                                 
 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

  Reduce  the  use  of  coal  for  domestic  heating  in 
order to limit air  pollutants emissions, for instance 
building  on  the  “Coal  regions 
in  transition” 
initiative. 

Industrial emissions 

The main objectives of EU policy on industrial emissions 
are to: 
(i) protect air, water and soil; 
(ii) prevent and manage waste; 
(iii) improve energy and resource efficiency; and  
(iv) clean up contaminated sites.  
To achieve this, the EU takes an integrated approach to 
the  prevention  and  control  of  routine  and  accidental 
industrial emissions. The cornerstone of the policy is the 
Industrial Emissions Directive58 (IED). 

The below overview of industrial activities regulated by 
the  IED  is  based  on  the  ‘industrial  emissions  policy 
country profiles’ project59. 

industrial 

installations 

About  3100 
in  Poland  are 
required to have a  permit based on the IED60. In 2015, 
the  industrial  sectors  with  the  most  IED  installations 
intensive  rearing  of  poultry  or  pigs  (26 %), 
were 
followed  by  non-hazardous  waste  management  (17 %) 
and energy – power (10 %).  

Figure  15:  Number  of  IED  industrial  installations  by 
sector, Poland (2015)61 

including Poland, to follow up persistent breaches of air 
quality requirements (for PM10 and NO2), which severely 
harm health and the environment. As regards exceeding 
PM10,  the  Commission  has  referred  Poland  to  the 
European  Court  of  Justice,  which  has  ruled  on  the 
matter  in  Case  C-336/16,  confirming  the  Commission’s 
position. The aim is to have adequate measures to bring 
all  zones  into  compliance  and  minimise  the  period  for 
which values are exceeded.  

i.e.  those  used 

As  outlined  in  the  2017  EIR,  the  reasons  for  poor  air 
quality  are  the  combustion  of  low-quality  coal  in  sub-
standard  domestic  boilers,  followed  by  increasing  road 
transport. 
In  September  2017,  Poland  adopted  a 
regulation  setting  standards  for  new  coal  and  wood 
biomass  boilers  below  500kW, 
in 
individual  houses.  One  year  later,  in  September  2018, 
another  regulation  set  out  quality  standards  for  solid 
fuels.  However,  the  regulation  has  a  long  transition 
period  for  phasing  out  coal  culm  and  lignite  used  by 
individual  houses  until  end  of  June  2020,  despite  the 
fact  that  severe  air  pollution  is  linked  to  high  health 
costs every year. In June 2018, Poland adopted Clean Air 
programme  which  offers 
grants  and 
preferential  loans  to  households  for  replacement  of 
obsolete  coal  boilers  and  thermal  retrofitting  of 
individual  houses.  The  households,  however,  may 
continue  to  use  substandard  boilers,  as  there  is  not  a 
regulatory  framework  for  phasing  them  out.  Measures 
such  as  building  bypasses  to  shift  traffic  out  of  city 
centres  and  upgrading  public  transport  infrastructure 
are  important,  but  not  in  themselves  sufficient  to  curb 
transport emissions. All other possible measures should 
be  implemented,  especially  financial  incentives  such  as 
car and fuel taxes dependent on emission levels, access 
restrictions, and low emission zones in cities, as well as 
strengthening  the  system  of  periodic  controls  of  cars 
and  introducing  fines  for  the  owners  of  cars  with  a 
diesel particulate filter illegally removed.  

financial 

2019 priority actions  

 

 

 

Take,  in  the  context  of  developing  an  adequate 
National Air Pollution Control Programme (NAPCP), 
actions  towards  reducing  the  main  emission 
sources - and meet all air quality standards. 
Cut  particulate  matter  (PM2.5  and  PM10)  and 
benzo(a)pyrene  emissions  and  concentrations 
faster,  connecting  houses  to  district  heating  and 
providing  financial  support  for  replacing  sub-
standard domestic boilers by low-emission heaters 
and those using renewable energies. 
Cut  nitrogen  oxide  (NOx)  emissions  and  nitrogen 
dioxide  (NO2)  concentrations  faster  by  reducing 
transport  emissions,  especially  by  establishing 
urban  vehicle  access  restrictions,  a  tax  system 
linked to emission levels, etc.  

18 

In  2015,  the 
emissions to air were (Figure 16):  

industrial  sectors  with  the  highest 

58 Directive 2010/75/EU covers industrial activities carried out above 
certain thresholds. It covers energy industry, metal production, 
mineral and chemical industry and waste management, as well as a 
wide range of industrial and agricultural sectors (e.g. intensive rearing 
of pig and poultry, pulp and paper production, painting and cleaning). 
59 European Commission, Industrial emissions policy country profile –
Poland. 
60 This overview of industrial activities regulated by IED is based on the 
project on Industrial Emissions policy Country profiles: Industrial 
emissions policy country profiles.  
61 European Commission, Industrial emissions policy country profile –
Poland. 

 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

 

 

energy sector for all pollutants except non-methane 
volatile  organic 
(NMVOCs)  and 
compounds 
ammonia (NH3),  
other activities (mostly intensive rearing of  poultry 
or  pigs  and  surface  treatment)  for  NMVOCs  and 
NH3,  

  metal production for cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), 

lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn).  

Figure  16:  Emissions  to  air  from  IED  sectors  and  all 
other national total air emissions, Poland (2015) 

admissions  per  year64.  About  1 400 000  people  suffer 
from  disturbed 
the 
Environmental  Noise  Directive  has  been  significantly 
delayed.  

Implementation  of 

sleep. 

reported  on 

its  action  plans 

According to the latest data reported by Poland in 2016 
and 201765, noise mapping is nearly completed. Poland 
also 
for  most 
agglomerations,  most  major  roads  and  railways.  The 
information provided  states that action plans for roads 
and  railways  outside  agglomerations  are  set  out  in 
regional  plans,  while  roads  and  railways  within 
in  agglomeration-level 
agglomerations  are 
action  plans.  However,  this  information  needs  further 
investigation,  as  there  are  reporting  issues  with  the 
action plans' territorial coverage. There is an action plan 
for  Warsaw  Airport,  but  it  seems  to  cover  only  the 
Warsaw agglomeration.  

included 

2019 priority action 

  Accelerate the completion of action plans for noise 

management. 

Water quality and management 

EU  legislation  and  policy  requires  that  the  impact  of 
pressures  on  transitional,  coastal  and  fresh  waters 
(including  surface  and  ground  waters)  be  significantly 
reduced.  Achieving,  maintaining  or  enhancing  a  good 
status  of  water  bodies  as  defined  by  the  Water 
Framework Directive will ensure that EU citizens benefit 
from good quality and safe drinking and bathing water. 
It  will  further  ensure  that  the  nutrient  cycle  (nitrogen 
and phosphorus) is managed in a more sustainable and 
resource-efficient way. 

The  existing  EU  water  legislation66  puts  in  place  a 
protective  framework  to  ensure  high  standards  for  all 
water bodies in the EU and addresses specific pollution 
sources (for example, from agriculture, urban areas and 
industrial  activities).  It  also  requires  that  the  projected 
impacts  of  climate  change  are  integrated  into  the 
corresponding  planning 
instruments  e.g. flood  risk 
management  plans  and  river  basin  management  plans, 
including  programme  of  measures  which  include  the 
actions  that  Member  States  plan  to  take  in  order  to 
achieve the environmental objectives. 

64 The figures are from a 2017 unpublished fact sheet for Poland from 
the European Environment Agency. 
65 EEA, Environmental noise directive, EIONET repository.  
66 This includes the Bathing Waters Directive (2006/7/EC), the Urban 
Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC) (on discharges of 
municipal and some industrial wastewaters), the Drinking Water 
Directive (98/83/EC) (on potable water quality), the Water Framework 
Directive (2000/60/EC) (on water resources management), the 
Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC) and the Floods Directive 
(2007/60/EC). 

The intensive rearing of poultry or pigs and the chemical 
identified  as  causing  significant 
sector  were  also 
environmental  burdens 
in  terms  of  emissions  into 
water.  

2019 priority action 

  Review  permits  and  strengthen  control  and/or 
enforcement  to  comply  with  newly  adopted  BAT 
conclusions. 

Noise 
The  Environmental  Noise  Directive62  provides  for  a 
common approach to avoiding, preventing and reducing 
the harmful effects of exposure to environmental noise. 

Excessive noise from aircraft, railways and roads is one 
of  the  main  causes  of  environmental  health-related 
issues in the EU63. 

Environmental  noise  in  Poland  is  believed  to  cause  at 
least  1 100  premature  deaths  and  6 600  hospital 

62 Directive 2002/49/EC. 
63 Fritschi, L., Brown, A.L., Kim, R., Schwela, D., Kephalopoulos, S. 
(eds), Burden of disease from environmental noise, WHO/JRC, World 
Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, 
Denmark, 2011. 

19 

 
                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

Water Framework Directive 

The  second  generation  of  River  Basin  Management 
Plans  (RBMPs)  under  the  Water  Framework  Directive 
reported  by  Poland  were  assessed  by  reported  the 
European  Commission  as  regards  their  status  and 
progress since the first River Basin Management Plans. 

The  most  significant  pressure  on  rivers  (50 %  of  river 
water  bodies)  is  ‘unknown  anthropogenic’  pressure. 
Diffuse agricultural pressures affected 62 % of lakes and 
8 % of river water bodies. The most significant pressure 
on groundwater is diffuse pollution from mining (8 % of 
followed  by  alteration  of 
groundwater  bodies) 
groundwater level (7 %). 

The  most  significant  impact  on  surface  water  bodies  is 
unknown  (affecting  36 %  of  surface  water  bodies) 
followed  by  nutrient  pollution  (22 %)  and  altered 
habitats due to morphological changes (8 %). The most 
significant 
impacts  on  groundwater  bodies  are 
abstraction  exceeding  available  groundwater  resource 
(7 % of groundwater bodies) and diminuation of quality 
of associated surface waters (7 %).  

The  number  of  operational  monitoring  sites  and 
surveillance  monitoring  sites  as  regards  ecological 
status was significantly reduced as compared to the first 
RBMPs.  There  are  no  surveillance  monitoring  sites  in 
transitional and coastal waters. Moreover, it seems that 
there  is  only  one  operational  monitoring  site  per  each 
transitional water body as the number of sites equals to 
the number of water bodies. 

There  was  a  considerable  improvement  in  the  number 
and proportion of water bodies classified for ecological 
status (% of water bodies of unknown ecological status 
decreased  from  80 %  to  nearly  0 %).  However,  the 
confidence in classification  is low  for  majority of water 
bodies, due to the fact that the classification was based 
on  grouping  or  expert  judgment  and  only  to  a  small 
extent  on  monitoring  for  most  of  the  biological  quality 
elements  and  all  the  hydromorphological  quality 
elements  in  most  of  the  water  bodies  (60 %)  in  rivers 
and  lakes.  70 %  of  water  bodies  are  below  good 
ecological  status  (Figure  18).  Therefore  achieving  good 
status  and  potential  as  set  down 
in  the  Water 
Framework Directive will require significant efforts.  

The  exemptions  on  achieving  environmental  objectives 
can be applied provided that the conditions are fulfilled. 
Poland  applied  significant  number  of  exemptions. 
it  seems  that  the  exemptions  are  not 
However 
supported  by  sufficient  evidence.  Relevant  information 
was lacking for example in order to determine whether 
exemptions related to disproportional costs and natural 
conditions could be justified.  

Figure  17:  Ecological  status  or  potential  of  surface 
water bodies in Poland67 

The proportion of water bodies with unknown chemical 
status lowered from 92 to 15 %. As a consequence, the 
proportion of surface water bodies with good chemical 
status  increased  from  3  to  59 %  while  those  failing  to 
achieve  good  chemical  status  from  5  to  26 %.  The 
percentage  of  the  total  groundwater  area  in  poor 
quantitative status decreased from 7 % to 4 %. 

In  general,  amount  and  quality  of  readily  available 
information  in  the  Programme  of  Measures  improved 
under  the  second  RBMP.  Notably,  information  on  links 
between pressures and measures were provided as well 
as progress with implementation of measures. 

Drinking Water Directive 

There  has  been  no  new  data  on  drinking  water  since 
the last EIR 68. 

Bathing Water Directive 

Figure  19  shows  that  in  2017,  66.8 %  of  the  205  Polish 
bathing water sites were of excellent quality, 12.7 % of 
good  quality  and  6.8 %  of  sufficient  quality  (66.2 %, 
15.9 %  and  8 %  respectively  in  2016).  In  2017,  five 
bathing  water  sites  were  of  poor  quality69.  Detailed 
information on Polish bathing water is available from a 

67 EEA, WISE dashboard. 
68 Compliance with the Drinking Water Directive microbiological and 
chemical parameters as last reported was very high. 
69 European Environment Agency, 2017. European bathing water 
quality in 2016 , p. 17. 

20 

 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

national  portal 70  and  via  an  interactive  map  viewer 
created by the European Environment Agency71. 
Figure 18: Bathing water quality 2014 – 2017 72 

Nitrates Directive 
Following  a  CJEU  ruling  (C-356/13)73  Poland  started 
applying  mandatory  measures  under  the  Nitrates 
Directive throughout the country and, in 2018, adopted 
a new Nitrates Action Programme74. 

Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive  

its  programme  for 

Poland  is  not  yet  compliant  with  the  Urban  Waste 
Water Treatment Directive. Since the 2017 EIR, Poland 
has  updated 
implementing  the 
UWWTD  and  reported  new  data  officially  to  the 
Commission.  According  to  the  latest  reported  data, 
which refer to 2016, Poland has 1587 agglomerations of 
more than 2000 population equivalent (p.e) with a total 
load  of  38,793,049  p.e.  However,  the  data  show  that 
more than 1000 agglomerations are not compliant with 
the  Directive’s  collection  and  treatment  requirements. 
On  this  basis,  the  Commission  decided  to  bring  an 
infringement  case  against  Poland.  The  estimated 
investment  needed  to  ensure  adequate  collection  and 
treatment 
is 
EUR 6.1 billion75.  

remaining  agglomerations 

the 

in 

Floods Directive 

The  Floods  Directive  established  a  framework  for  the 
assessment  and  management  of  flood  risks,  aiming  at 
the  reduction  of  the  adverse  consequences  associated 
with significant floods. 

Poland  has  adopted  and  reported  its  first  Flood  Risk 
Management  Plans  under  the  Directive  and  the 
European Commission conducted an assessment. 

The  Commission’s  assessment  found  that  good  efforts 
were  made  with  positive  results  in  setting  objectives 
focusing  on  prevention, 
and  devising  measures 
protection  and  preparedness.  The  assessment  also 
showed that, similarly to other Member States, Poland’s 
Flood  Risk  Management  Plans  do  not  yet  include  a 
baseline  to  assess  the  progress  achieved  and  a  clear 
prioritisation of measures. In addition, there is scope for 
improving the integration of the flood risk management 
cycle’s successive steps into the Flood Risk Management 
Plan.  

2019 priority actions 

 

 

 

Strengthen  monitoring  of  surface  waters  by 
covering  all  relevant  quality  elements  in  all  water 
the  Water 
in  accordance  with 
categories 
Framework Directive. 
Take further measures to ensure good quantitative 
status/ecological flows. 
Ensure  that  projects,  which  potentially  can  affect 
the status of water bodies, are thoroughly assessed 
and  justified  in  line  with  the  requirements  in  the 
Water Framework Directive (Article 4(7)). 

 

  Accelerate implementation of investments required 
for  achieving  compliance  with  the  Urban  Waste 
Water Treatment Directive. 
Ensure  that  measures  in  the  new  Nitrates  Action 
implemented  and 
Programmes  are  effectively 
enforced. 
Take  steps  to  improve  the  integration  of  the  flood 
risk  management  cycle’s  successive  steps  into  the 
Flood Risk Management Plan. 

 

Chemicals 

The  EU  seeks  to  ensure  that  by  2020  chemicals  are 
produced and used in ways that minimise any significant 
adverse effects on human health and the environment. 
An  EU  strategy  for  a  non-toxic  environment  that  is 
conducive  to  innovation  and  to  developing  sustainable 
substitutes,  including  non-chemical  options,  is  being 
prepared. 

70 National portal on bathing waters. 
71 EEA, State of bathing waters. 
72 EEA, 2018. European bathing water quality in 2017, p. 21. 
73 Court of Justice, Judgment - Case C-356/13.  
74 Regulation of the Council of Ministers dated on 5 June 2018 (2018 
Journal of Laws, item 1339). 
75 European Commission, Report on the implementation status and 
the programmes for implementation (as required by Article 17) of 
Council Directive 91/271/EEC concerning urban waste water 
treatment, COM(2017) 749 and SWD(2017)445. 

21 

 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

legislation76  provides  baseline 
The  EU’s  chemicals 
protection  for  human  health  and  the  environment.  It 
also  ensures  stability  and  predictability  for  businesses 
operating within the internal market. 

The 2016 European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) report on 
the  operation  of  the  Regulation  on  the  Registration, 
Evaluation,  Authorisation  and  Restriction  of  Chemicals 
(REACH) and the Classification, Labelling and Packaging 
Regulation  (CLP)77  showed  that  enforcement  activities 
are  still  developing  In  the  Forum  for  Exchange  of 
Information on Enforcement,  coordinated enforcement 
projects78 have shown that enforcement activities could 
be  made  more  effective, 
in  particular  as  regards 
registration obligations and safety data sheets, where a 
relatively high level of non-compliance has been found.  

Although there have been improvements, there is room 
for  further 
improvement  of  national  enforcement 
activities  as  regards  EU-wide  harmonisation,  including 
checks  on  imports.  It  is  also  clear  that  enforcement 
remains  weak  in  some  EU  countries  particularly  as 
regards checks on imports and supply chain obligations. 
The  architecture  of  enforcement  capabilities  remains 
complex 
in  most  EU  countries.  The  enforcement 
projects  also  revealed  some  differences  between 
countries.  Some,  for  instance,  tend  to  systematically 
report  higher  compliance  than  the  EU  average,  while 
others report lower compliance). 

A  2015  Commission  study  already  highlighted  the 
importance of harmonisation in implementing REACH at 
national  level,  in  terms  of  market  surveillance  and 
enforcement,  as  a  critical  success  factor 
in  the 
operation of a harmonised single market79.  

In March 2018, the Commission published an evaluation 
of  REACH80.  The  evaluation  concludes  that  REACH 
delivers  on  its  objectives,  but  that  progress  made  is 
slower  than  anticipated.  In  addition,  the  registration 
dossiers  often  are 
incomplete.  The  evaluation 
underlines  the  need  to  enhance  enforcement  by  all 
actors,  including  registrants,  downstream  users  and  in 
particular  for importers, to  ensure a  level playing field, 
meet  the  objectives  of  REACH  and  ensure  consistency 
with  the  actions  envisaged  to  improve  environmental 
compliance  and  governance.  Consistent  reporting  of 
Member  State  enforcement  activities  was  considered 

76 Principally for chemicals: REACH (OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p.1.); for 
Classification, Labelling and Packaging, the CLP Regulation (: OJ L 252, 
31.12.2006, p.1.), together with legislation on biocidal products and 
plant protection products. 
77 ECHA, Report on the Operation of REACH and CLP 2016. 
78 ECHA, On the basis of the projects REF-1, REF-2 and REF-3. 
79 European Commission, Monitoring the Impacts of REACH on 
Innovation, Competitiveness and SMEs, Final Report, 2015. 
80European Commission, Report on the operation of REACH and 
review of certain elements Conclusions and Actions COM(2018)116 

in  that  respect.  Enforcing  provisions  on 
important 
chemicals  in  Poland  is  the  responsibility  of  a  few 
administrative  authorities.  Bureau 
for  Chemical 
Substances is the main competent authority established 
under the REACH and CLP Regulation.  

The  leading  enforcement  authorities  are  the  State 
Health  Inspectorate,  the  State  Health  Inspectorate  of 
the  Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  and  the  Military  Health 
Inspectorate,  each  within  its  own  remit.  In  addition  to 
chemicals,  the  remit  of  the  State  Health  Inspectorate 
includes  the  prevention  and  control  of  communicable 
the  prevention  of  occupational  and 
diseases, 
environmental  hazards,  health  and  safety  surveillance, 
and health promotion81. 

The  State  Health  Inspectorate  carries  out  public  health 
tasks, especially by monitoring the conditions of: water 
health  safety  (drinking  water,  bathing  water  and 
swimming  water),  hygiene,  occupational  hygiene, 
radiation  hygiene,  education  and  teaching  process 
hygiene,  food  and  nutrition  safety,  and  the  prevention 
and control of disease. 

Control  activities  are  carried  out  by  inspectors  at 
regional level (counties, voivodships and border sanitary 
and  epidemiological  stations),  coordinated/supervised 
by  the  Chief  Health  Inspectorate.  At  regional  level, 
inspectors  dealing  with  chemicals  and  occupational 
health  are  responsible  for  supervising  REACH,  CLP, 
biocidal  products,  detergents,  category  2  and  3  drug 
precursors, and occupational health issues. 

involved 

is 
in  the  R4R-European  chemical 
for  resource  efficiency,  bringing  together 
in  six 

industry  and 

institutes, 

regions 

Poland 
regions 
research 
countries82. 

Making cities more sustainable 

EU  policy  on  the  urban  environment  encourages  cities 
to  put  policies  in  place  for  sustainable  urban  planning 
and design. These should include innovative approaches 
to  urban  public  transport  and  mobility,  sustainable 
buildings,  energy  efficiency  and  urban  biodiversity 
conservation. 

The  population  living  in  urban  areas  in  Europe  is 
projected  to  rise  to  just  over  80%  by  205083.  Urban 
areas  pose  particular  challenges  for  the  environment 
and human health, but  they also provide opportunities 
for using resources more efficiently. The EU encourages 
municipalities  to  become  greener  through  initiatives 

81 ECHA, National inspectorates – Poland. 
82 European Commission, Improving resource efficiency in SMEs, 
December 2017, p. 43.  
83 European Commission, Eurostat, Urban Europe, 2016, p.9. 

22 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

such  as  the  Green  Capital  Award84,  the  Green  Leaf 
Award85 and the Green City Tool86. 

Financing greener cities 

Poland  has  assigned  EUR 8.963 billion  of  its  allocation 
under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) 
and  EUR 14.832 billion  of 
its  allocation  under  the 
Cohesion Fund to sustainable urban development87. 

Successful  projects  in  greener  cities  have  also  received 
funding  under  the  Horizon  2020  programme.  For 
example, the Grow Green international project, with the 
city  of  Wrocław  as  a  front-runner,  aims  to  make  cities 
climate-  and  water-resilient,  healthy  and  liveable,  by 
investing in nature-based solutions.  

in 

the 

the  EU 

responsible 

participates 

Poland 
European  Urban 
Development  Network  (UDN)88,  which  includes  more 
than  500  cities  across 
for 
implementing  integrated  actions  based  on  sustainable 
urban development strategies financed by the European 
Regional  Development  Fund,  ERDF,  over  2014-2020. 
Within the UDN initiatives, the ERDF is supporting urban 
innovative  actions  (UIA)  as  a  way  of  testing  new  and 
unproven  solutions  to  address  urban  challenges.  The 
UIA  has  a  total  ERDF  budget  of  EUR 372 million  for 
2014-20.  Poland  has  not  obtained  actions  in  the  first 
two calls for projects89. 

Participation in EU urban initiatives and networks 

Polish  municipalities  are  generally 
in  EU 
initiatives  to  improve  environmental  protection  and 
tackle climate change. Warsaw, the capital, was among 
seven applicants for the 2018 EU Green Capital Award.  

involved 

Eleven Polish municipalities are involved in the URBACT 
initiative  to  support  sustainable  urban  development, 
through  24  different  thematic  networks90.  Poznań  is 
currently coordinating Gen-Y City project, which aims to 
develop,  attract  and  retain  millennials  with  'creative 
tech' talents in European cities. 

Several  Horizon  2020  network  projects  have  also 
contributed to the sustainability of Polish cities. CIVITAS 
includes  16  municipalities  representing  Poland  in  a 
common  effort  to  make  urban  transport  cleaner  and 
better91.  Gdynia 
is  part  of  the  DYN@MO  project, 
focused  on  sustainable  urban  mobility  planning,  clean 
and energy-efficient  vehicles, 'smart' transport  systems 

84 European Commission, European Green Capital.  
85 European Commission, European Green Leaf Award. 
86 European Commission, Green City Tool. 
87 Partnership Agreement 2014 – 2020.  
88 European Commission, The Urban Development Network.  
89 European Commission, Urban Innovative Actions.  
90 URBACT, Associated Networks by country.  
91 European Commission, Horizon 2020 Civitas Project.  

and  ICT92.  Some  Polish  cities  are  also  involved  in  the 
FosterReg  project,  whose  aim  is  to  improve  the  public 
sector's capacity to plan, finance and manage integrated 
urban regeneration for sustainable energy uptake93. 

Polish  cities  are  actively  involved  in  initiatives  such  as 
Eurocities  and  the  EU  Covenant  of  Mayors.  By 
June 2018,  40  Polish  cities  were  signed  up  to  the  EU 
Covenant of Mayors. 

Polish cities and governmental bodies also participate in 
Partnership for Air Quality under the Urban Agenda for 
the EU94.  

These urban initiatives and networks are welcomed and 
encouraged,  as  they  can  contribute  to  a  better  urban 
environment.  People 
in  Polish  cities  are 
living 
increasingly taking a more positive view of the area they 
live  in.  However,  in  2017,  19.2 %  of  them  considered 
that  the  area  they  lived  in  was  affected  by  pollution, 
crime  or  other  environmental  problems,  worse  than  in 
2016 (16.5 %) and 2015 (15.6 %)95.  

Nature and cities 

More than 15 % of the Natura 2000 network in Poland is 
within  functional  urban  areas96,  which  is  slightly  above 
the EU average (see Figure 20).  

Figure  19:  Proportion  of  the  Natura  2000  network  in 
Functional Urban Areas (FUA) 97 

Urban sprawl  

Poland's  weighted  urban  proliferation  (WUP)  was  1.66 
urban  permeation  units  (UPU)  per  square  metre  in 
2009, compared with a  European (EU-28+4) average of 
1.64 UPU/m2. There was a 5.06 % increase from 2006 to 
200998 99.  

92 CIVITAS DYN@MO project . 
93 European Commission, Horizon 2020 FosterReg Project.  
94 European Commission, website: Urban Agenda for the EU 
95 European Commission, Eurostat, Pollution, grime or other 
environmental problems by degree of urbanisation. 
96 European Commission, Definition of Functional Urban Areas. 
97 European Commission, the 7th Report on Economic, Social and 
Territorial Cohesion, 2017, p. 121. 
98 Urban Permeation Units measure the size of the built-up area as 
well as its degree of dispersion throughout the region. 
99 EEA, Urban Sprawl in Europe, Annex I, 2014, pp.4-5. 

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Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

Traffic congestion and urban mobility 

Innovative approaches to traffic management are being 
developed and tested in a number of cities. 

The  total  number  of  cars  in  Poland  had  risen  to  21 
million by 2016, while the number of passenger cars per 
1000  inhabitants  rose  from  526  in  2014  to  571  in 
2016100.  

to 

rapid 

infrastructure  development, 

Owing 
this 
increase has not been translated into more hours spent 
annually  in  traffic  jams.  The  annual  number  of  hours 
spent  on  congested  roads  fell  from  25.20  in  2014  to 
24.95 in 2016101. 

The  modal  split  of  passenger  transport  shows  high  use 
of  passenger  cars  in  Poland,  which  nevertheless  is  still 
below the EU-28 average. In 2015, car trips represented 
77.3 %  of  passenger-kilometres  travelled.  However, 
Poland records more use of buses and coaches (14.5 %) 
than  the  EU-28  average  (9.4 %)  and  slightly  less  use  of 
rail (6.6 % vs 7.6 %)102. Cars are still the favourite means 
of transport over longer distances in Poland.  

100 European Commission, Eurostat, Passenger cars per 1 000 
inhabitants, 2018. 
101 European Commission, Hours spent in road congestion annually.  
102 European Commission, Transport in the EU trends, 2018. 

24 

 
 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

Part II: Enabling framework: implementation Tools 

4. Green taxation, green public procurement, environmental 

funding and investments 

Green taxation and environmentally harmful 
subsidies 

incentives, 

Financial 
taxation  and  other  economic 
instruments  are  effective  and  efficient  ways  to  meet 
environmental  policy  objectives.  The  circular  economy 
action  plan  encourages  their  use.  Environmentally 
harmful  subsidies  are  monitored  in  the  context  of  the 
European  Semester  and  the  energy  union  governance 
process. 

Poland’s  revenue  from  environmentally  relevant  taxes 
remains higher than the EU average. Environmental taxes 
accounted  for  2.68 %  of  GDP  in  2017  (EU-28  average: 
2.4 %) as shown in Figure 21, and energy taxes for 2.33 % 
of  GDP  against  an  EU  average  of  1.84 %103.  In  the  same 
year,  environmental  tax  revenues  were  7.65 %  of  total 
revenues  from  taxes  and  social  security  contributions 
(higher than the EU-28 average of 5.97 %). 

Labour tax accounted for a smaller share of the total tax 
take  than  the  EU  average  (39.9 %  in  2016),  while  the 
implicit tax burden on labour was 32.6 %104. Consumption 
taxes  remained  relatively  high  (34.8 %,  13th  in  the  EU-
28).  This  suggests  there  is  some  potential  for  shifting 
taxes  from  labour  to  consumption,  and  in  particular  to 
environmental tax.  

The  last  European  Semester  country  reports  for  Poland 
indicated that Poland has not  been using  environmental 
taxes to encourage more efficient energy use and reduce 
greenhouse emissions. The implicit tax rate on energy, at 
below  60 %  of  the  EU  average,  remains  relatively  low; 
rates on transport fuels are below the EU average and a 
number of tax exemptions are available105. 

There are some cases showing that implementing sound 
fiscal  measures  can  benefit  the  environment.  A  good 
example is Poland's waste water fee, revenue from which 
is invested in environmental protection106.  

Figure  20:  Environmental  tax  revenues  as  a %  of  GDP 
(2017) 107 

Meanwhile, fossil fuel subsidies have remained high over 
the past decade,  mainly due to new investment  aids for 
coal  mining  and  other  indirect  aid  linked  with  coal 
decommissioning in the country. Tax exemptions are still 
in  place  for  the  use  of  fossil  fuels  in  farming  and 
agricultural  production  and  have  increased  considerably 
in  recent  years.  These  exceptions  added  up 
to 
PLN 2 340 million in 2016, while budgetary transfers and 
subsidies  exceeded  PLN 1 650 million.  However,  most 
subsidies and exemptions for petroleum and natural gas 
have disappeared108.  

Some  progress  has  been  made  since  2005  on  reducing 
the  diesel  differential109.  In  2016,  there  was  still  a  14 % 
gap between petrol and diesel tax rates, while in 2005 it 

103 European Commission, Eurostat, Environmental tax revenues, 2018. 
104 European Commission, Taxation Trends Report, 2017. 
105 European Commission, European Semester Country Report 2018, p. 
17.  
106 Institute for European Environmental Policy, Case Studies on 
Environmental Fiscal Reform, Wastewater fee in Poland.  

107 European Commission, Eurostat, Environmental tax revenues, 2018.  
108 OECD, Inventory of Support Measures for Fossil Fuels, 2018. 
109 Diesel differential is a difference in the price of diesel versus petrol. 

25 

 
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

was  38 %110.  In  2016,  excise  duty  rates  on  petrol  and 
diesel  in  2016  remained  constant  in  comparison  with 
those in 2015 (PLN 1.67 per litre for petrol and PLN 1.46 
for diesel)111.  

Tax treatment of company cars is a cause for concern in 
Poland112. Excise duties on electric cars were abolished by 
the  end  of  2017,  and  no  relevant  fiscal  measures  have 
been introduced for this type of car in 2018113 114.  

Poland does not have CO2 nor any other emission based 
motor  vehicle  taxes115.  Draft 
linking  car 
taxation to CO2 emissions was suspended in 2017116. 

legislation 

Incentives to choose cars with lower CO2 emissions were 
infrequent  in  2016,  linked  to  annual  road  taxes  and 
subsidies,  but  not  to  road  tolls,  congestion  or  low 
emission zone charges or to purchasing cleaner vehicles. 
There are no incentives for the preferential use of public 
infrastructure117.  New  vehicles  purchased  in  Poland  are 
among the least environmentally friendly in the EU, with 
average  CO2  emissions  of  125.8  g/km,  above  the  EU 
average of 118 g/km in 2016118. The measures mentioned 
above  should  be  considered  in  order  to  reduce  air 
pollution (see Chapter 3 on air quality). 

Poland is putting a great deal of emphasis on developing 
the market in electric, compressed natural gas (CNG) and 
liquid natural gas (LNG) cars119. The government has set a 
very ambitious target: over a  million electric vehicles on 
the road by 2025. 

To support low emission mobility, Poland adopted an act 
on electro-mobility and alternative fuels in January 2018. 
The  act  exempts  electric  cars,  hydrogen  cars  and  hybrid 
cars with a combustion engine capacity lower or equal to 
2000  cubic  centimeters  (the  latter  until  1  January  2021) 
from  excise  duties.  The  application  of  the  exemption  is 
pending  a  response  of  the  European  Commission  as 
regards compatibility with internal market rules. 

110 EEA, Environmental taxation and EU environmental policies, 2017, 
p.27. 
111 European Commission, Taxes in Europe Database, 2018.  
112 European Commission, Taxation of commercial cars in Belgium, 
2017, p.3.  
113 European Commission, European Semester Country Report 2018, p. 
17. 
114 FleetEurope, Major changes to company car taxation in Europe.  
115 ACEA, CO2 based motor vehicle taxes in Europe. 
116 European Commission, European Semester Country Report 2018, p. 
17. 
117 EEA, Appropriate taxes and incentives do affect purchases of new 
cars, 18 May 2018.  
118 EEA, Average CO2 emissions from new passenger cars sold in EU-28 
Member States plus Norway, Iceland and Switzerland in 2016. 
119 European Commission, Transport in the European Union Current 
Trends and Issues, 2018, pp. 27-28. 

Green Public Procurement  

The  EU  green  public  procurement  policies  encourage 
Member  States  to  take  further  steps  to  apply  green 
procurement  criteria  to  at  least  50 %  of  public  tenders. 
The European Commission is helping to increase the use 
of  public  procurement  as  a  strategic  tool  to  support 
environmental protection. 

The  value  of  public  procurement  amounts  to  around 
EUR 1.8 trillion in the EU (approximately 14 % of GDP). A 
substantial proportion of this money goes to sectors with 
a  high  environmental  impact  such  as  construction  or 
transport.  Therefore,  green  public  procurement  (GPP) 
can  help  to  significantly  lower  the  negative  impact  of 
public  spending  on  the  environment  and  can  help 
The 
support 
Commission has proposed EU GPP criteria120. 

businesses. 

sustainable 

innovative 

A  fourth  national  action  plan  on  sustainable  public 
procurement for 2017-2020 was adopted on 7 April 2017. 
The  current  target  is  to  make  a  quarter  of  public 
procurement  'green'  by  the  end  of  2020.  However, 
contracting  authorities  are  not  obliged  to  engage  in 
green  public  procurement.  The  Public  Procurement 
Office promotes the voluntary application of GPP and the 
use of EU GPP criteria. 

Following the entry into force in July 2016 of the new law 
on  public  procurement,  which  enacts  the  relevant  EU 
directives,  the  Public  Procurement  Office  has  developed 
a  new  standard  form  to  collect  data  on  the  inclusion  of 
environmental criteria. 

In  2015,  GPP  in  contracts  below  the  EU  threshold 
amounted  to  11.40 %  of  all  public  procurement, 
according to monitoring undertaken by the Office121. 

A  European  Parliament  study  shows  that  Poland  has 
implemented  the  national  action  plan  for  green  public 
procurement in part only122.  

120 In the Communication ‘Public procurement for a better 
environment’ (COM(2008) 400) the Commission recommended the 
creation of a process for setting common GPP criteria. The basic 
concept of GPP relies on having clear, verifiable, justifiable and 
ambitious environmental criteria for products and services, based on a 
life-cycle approach and scientific evidence base. 
121 Green Public Procurement Advisory Group, update April 2017  
122 European Parliament, Green Public Procurement and the Action Plan 
for the Circular Economy, 2017, pp. 79-80. 

26 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

Environmental funding and investment 

European  Structural  and  Investment  Fund  (ESIF)  rules 
oblige  Member  States  to  promote  environment  and 
climate  in  their  funding  strategies  and  programmes  for 
economic, 
rural 
development and maritime policy. 

social  and 

territorial 

cohesion, 

Achieving  sustainability  involves  mobilising  public  and 
private  financing  sources123.  Use  of  the  European 
Structural  and  Investment  Funds  (ESIFs)124  is  essential  if 
countries  are  to  achieve  their  environmental  goals  and 
into  other  policy  areas.  Other 
integrate 
instruments such as Horizon 2020, the LIFE programme125 
and the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI)126 
may also support the implementation and spread of good 
practices. 

these 

86 % of Poland's population support more EU investment 
in  environmental  protection,  according  to  the  2017 
Special  Eurobarometer  468  on  the  attitudes  of  EU 
citizens towards the environment127.  

European Structural and Investment Funds, 2014-2020 

a 

Through  24  national  and  regional  programmes,  Poland 
has  been  allocated  EUR 86 billion  from  ESIF  funds  for 
contribution 
2014-2020.  With 
of 
national 
EUR 18.8 billion,  Poland  has  a 
total  budget  of 
EUR 104.8 billion  to  be  invested  in  various  areas  from 
infrastructure  networks  (transport  and  energy),  SME 
competitiveness  to  boost  research  and 
innovation, 
investment 
low-carbon  economy  as  well  as 
environmental  protection,  to  improving  social  inclusion 
and boosting labour market participation.  

in  the 

Cohesion policy 

Poland  stands  to  be  the  biggest  beneficiary  of  cohesion 
policy  funds  over  2014-2020,  with  the  allocation  of 
EUR 77.6 billion  in  total,  including  EUR 700.5 million  for 
European  Territorial  Cooperation  and  EUR 12.8 billion 
from the European Social Fund128.  

As 
regards  estimating  environmental  expenditure, 
investment in water and the waste water sector accounts 
largest  allocation  (EUR 2.5 billion).  They  are 
for  the 

123 See, for example, Action plan on financing sustainable growth 
(COM(2018) 97).  
124 i.e. the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Cohesion 
Fund (CF), the European Social Fund (ESF), the European Agricultural 
Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the European Maritime and 
Fisheries Fund (EMFF). The ERDF, the CF and the ESF are referred to as 
the ‘cohesion policy funds’. 
125 European Commission, LIFE programme. 
126 European Investment Bank, European Fund for Strategic 
Investments, 2016. 
127 European Commission, 2017 Special Eurobarometer 468 on attitudes 
of EU citizens towards the Environment. 
128 European Commission, Cohesion Policy and Poland. 

followed  by  EUR 1.3 billion  for  waste  management, 
EUR 434 million 
for  nature  and  biodiversity,  and 
EUR 428 million  for  air  quality  measures.  Poland  also 
allocated  EUR  9.7  billion  to  sustainable  investments 
which  bring  indirect  benefits  for  environment,  such  as 
energy  efficiency  and  renewable  energies,  sustainable 
transport,  sustainable  tourism  and  sustainable  business 
processes.  

Figure  21:  ESIF  2014-2020  –  EU  allocation  by  theme, 
Poland (EUR billions)129 

Current  data  suggest  that  EU  funds  for  2007-2013  were 
almost fully spent (98.42 %) 130.  

sector 

The  Cohesion  Fund  supports  the  implementation  of 
environmental  directives,  particularly  in  the  water  and 
waste  water 
and  waste  management. 
Implementation  of  the  Urban  Waste  Water  Treatment 
Directive  in  the  Warsaw  agglomeration  is  one  of  the 
biggest environmental projects. It has been implemented 
in six stages, starting in the year 2000. Total project costs 
are  about  EUR 825 million.  The  project 
includes 
constructing wastewater collecting systems, building and 
and 
upgrading  waste  water 
rehabilitating  the  water  supply  network  and  water 
treatment  plants  that  serve  Warsaw  and  adjacent 
municipalities.  

treatment  plants, 

The  preconditions  on  water  and  waste  under  Thematic 

129 European Commission, European Structural and Investment Funds 
Data By Country. 
130 European Commission, Cohesion Policy – Supporting Growth and 
jobs in Poland (2007-2013), 2015; and European Commission, SF 2007-
2013 Funds Absorption Rate, 2018.  

27 

                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

Objective 6 were met in 2017.  

led 

The Commission assessed national and 16 regional waste 
management  plans  drawn  up  and  adopted  under  the 
action  plan  for  meeting  the  precondition  concerning 
waste.  This  assessment 
to  a  number  of 
recommendations  on  EU-co-financed  projects.  Any  new 
waste-to-energy  thermal  treatment  installations  should 
be  limited  to  justified  and  documented  cases  where 
there is no risk of overcapacity and the objectives of the 
waste hierarchy are fully met. Moreover, there should be 
no  EU  co-funding 
for  new  mechanical-biological 
treatment plants or for expanding the capacity of existing 
ones.  Lastly,  municipalities  which  apply  for  EU  co-
financing  of  waste  investment  should  have  selective 
collection  of  the  five  waste  streams  established,  as 
required by the Polish regulation on separate collection. 

In  view  of  a  pending  infringement  procedure  regarding 
application  of  Article  4(7)  of  the  Water  Framework 
Directive,  the  Commission  also  had  reservations  about 
in  sectors  such  as 
EU  co-financing  of  projects 
hydropower, flood defence and inland navigation, which, 
given  their  likely  negative  impacts  on  water  bodies, 
trigger use of the Article 4(7) exemption under the Water 
Framework Directive. Poland established a list of projects 
that do not require the exemption to be applied (list No 1 
of the Master Plans for the Odra and Wisla River Basins) 
and  which  are  a  priority  for  EU  funding.  Any  projects 
which  could  lead  to  a  deterioration  in  the  status  of 
bodies  of  water  (i.e.  are  included  on  list  No  2  of  the 
Master  Plans  for  the  Odra  and  Wisla)  cannot  be  co-
financed  by  EU 
funds  under  Polish  operational 
programmes  unless  they  are  brought  into  line  with  the 
Water Framework Directive. 

Rural development 

the 
The  Polish  Development  Programme  outlines 
country's priorities for using the EUR 13.5 billion available 
for  2014-2020.  This  includes  EUR 8.7 billion  from  the 
European  Agricultural  Fund  for  Rural  Development 
(EAFRD) and EUR 4.9 billion of national co-funding131. 

As  regards  integrating  environmental  concerns  into  the 
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the two key areas are, 
first,  using  the  EAFRD  to  pay  for  environmental  land 
management  and  other  environmental  measures;  and 
second,  ensuring  that  the  first  pillar  of  the  CAP  is 
implemented effectively as regards cross-compliance and 
first pillar 'greening'. Poland's direct payment budget for 
2014-2020 is EUR 23.4 billion, 30 % of  which  is allocated 
to greening practices beneficial to the environment132.  

In  addition,  only  EUR 3 billion  (representing  about  30 % 
of  the  rural  development  programme)  is  dedicated  to 
priority  4  (ecosystems).  This  is  far  below  the  European 
average (around 45 %). About half the financial allocation 
reserved  for  the  environment  is  taken  up  by  payments 
for areas under natural constraints. As a result, the rural 
development  programme  does  not  adequately  cover 
environmental  needs.  In  particular,  there  is  no  support 
for non-productive investment in restoring ecosystems at 
Natura 2000 sites.  

On  the  positive  side,  the  whole  country  has  been 
designated  a  'nitrate-vulnerable-  zone'  and  the  rural 
development  programme  has  increased  its  support  for 
building  manure  storage  facilities  to  reduce  the  risk  of 
nitrate leaching into water. 

The rural development programme has also increased its 
support  for  consolidating  agricultural  land.  Farmland  is 
highly fragmented. It is estimated that about 2 million ha 
of  land  should  be  consolidated.  This  represents  a  major 
environmental  risk,  as  such  consolidation  leads  to  the 
destruction of valuable landscape elements beneficial to 
water,  soil  and  biodiversity,  such  as  hedges  and  trees. 
Land  consolidation  policy  should  therefore  include  the 
protection  and 
its 
objectives. 

restoration  of  nature  among 

Farmers receiving direct payments are obliged to meet a 
number  of  environmental  conditions  to  protect  the 
environment and ecosystems (biodiversity, habitats, soil, 
water,  air).  However,  these  conditions  need  to  be 
strengthened  by  prohibiting  the  destruction  of  valuable 
landscape elements. 

European Maritime and Fisheries Fund 

Poland  receives  around  EUR 710 million  in  co-financing 
for  fisheries  and  the  maritime  sector,  with  an  EU 
contribution  of  EUR 531 million133.  Several  projects 

131 European Commission, Factsheet on 2014-2020 Rural Development 
Programme for Poland, 2017, p.1.  
132 European Commission, Investing in Poland's agriculture. 

133 European Commission, European Maritime and Fisheries Fund in 
Poland, 2015.  

28 

                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

beneficial to the environment have been financed under 
operational  programme  priorities  one 
(sustainable 
fisheries) and two (sustainable aquaculture).  

The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) 

The  CEF  is  a  key  EU  funding  instrument  developed 
specifically  to  direct 
investment  towards  European 
transport,  energy  and  digital  infrastructure  to  address 
identified  missing  links  and  bottlenecks  and  promote 
sustainability. 

By  the  end  of  2017,  Poland  had  signed  agreements  for 
EUR 4.1 billion for projects under the CEF134. 

Horizon 2020 

Poland  has  benefited  from  Horizon  2020  funding  since 
the programme started in 2014. As of January 2019, 451 
participants  have  been  granted  a  maximum  amount  of 
EUR 80.6 million for projects from the Societal Challenges 
work 
environmental 
issues135 136.  

dealing  with 

programmes 

In  addition  to  the  abovementioned  work  programmes, 
climate and biodiversity expenditure is present across the 
entire  Horizon  2020.  In  Poland,  projects  accepted  for 
funding  in  all  Horizon  2020  working  programmes  until 
December  2018  included  EUR  88  million  destined  to 
climate  action  (23.9 %  of  the  total  Horizon  2020 
contribution  to  the  country)  and  EUR  14  million  to 
biodiversity-related  actions  (3.8 %  of  the  Horizon  2020 
contribution to the country)137. 

LIFE programme 

Since  1992,  when  the  LIFE  programme  was  launched,  a 
total of 213 projects have been supported in Poland, with 
EU  input  of  EUR  114  million138.  Of  these,  128  have 
focused  on  nature  and  biodiversity  and  34  on  the 
environment  and  resource  efficiency.  The  EU  granted 
EUR 16 million to Polish projects over 2014-2017 139. 

To  date,  one  integrated  project  has  been  supported  in 
Poland, namely 'Implementation of an air quality plan for 
in  a  healthy 
the  Małopolska  Region  -  Małopolska 
atmosphere  (LIFE14  IPE/PL/000021).  The  project's  main 

134 European Commission, European Semester Country Report for 
Poland, 2018, p. 14. 
135 European Commission own calculations based on CORDA (COmmon 
Research DAta Warehouse). A maximum grant amount is the maximum 
grant amount decided by the Commission. It normally corresponds to 
the requested grant, but it may be lower. 
136 i.e. (ii) Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine 
and maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy; (iii) 
Secure, clean and efficient energy; (iv) Smart, green and integrated 
transport; and (v) Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and 
raw materials. 
137 European Commission own calculations based on CORDA (COmmon 
Research DAta Warehouse). 
138 European Commission, LIFE in Poland, 2017 
139 Commission services based on data provided by EASME.  

objective  is  to  implement  in  full  the  Małopolska  air 
quality plan (MAQP) adopted by the regional parliament 
in  September  2013.  The  region  has  an  air  pollution 
problem  resulting  from  the  combustion  of  solid  fuels  in 
obsolete household boilers. The air  quality plan sets out 
the  measures  that  local  government  needs  to  take  to 
eliminate  obsolete  solid 
fuel  boilers  and  replace 
household heating systems by systems based on natural 
gas,  light  fuel  oil,  renewable  energy,  electric  heating, 
district  heating  or  modern  solid  fuel  boilers  that  meet 
high  quality  standards  in  terms  of  pollutant  emissions. 
The project includes: 

 

 

 

 

 

establishing  a  network  of  60  eco-managers  to 
support  the  implementation  of  air  quality  measures 
at municipal level, 
advisory  services  to  help  Kraków  residents  replace 
stoves and solid fuel boilers 
setting up a regional centre of excellence to provide 
training  and  create  a  knowledge  base  for  local 
authorities and eco-managers 
carrying out information and education campaigns at 
regional and local levels, and 
high-resolution modelling of pollution dispersion for 
Kraków.  

is  designed  to 

'You have the right to effective protection for nature'  140 
('Masz prawo do skutecznej ochrony przyrody') is another 
important  LIFE  project. 
improve 
It 
cooperation  between  different  compliance  assurance 
authorities,  especially  the  police,  prosecution  offices, 
general  and  regional  directorates  for  environmental 
protection, and other units. The project includes training 
sessions  for  law  enforcement  and  judicial  authorities,  a 
free  e-learning  course  and  educational  materials 
promoting nature protection. 

European Investment Bank 

In  2018  alone,  the  EIB  Group  (the  European  Investment 
Bank  and  the  European  Investment  Fund)141  loaned 
Polish  businesses  and  public  institutions  more  than 
EUR 4.79 billion. Figure 23 shows that more than EUR 722 
million  (15 %  of  the  total)  was  invested  directly  in 
environment-related  projects.142  Most  support  goes  to 
(EUR 1.74  billion), 
small  and  medium  enterprises 
and 
followed  by 
infrastructure  (EUR 795.7 million).  EIB  financing  often 
goes hand in hand with support from the Cohesion Fund 
and the ERDF.  

(EUR 1.53  billion), 

innovation 

140 LIFE project “You have right to effective protection of nature” 
website  
141 The EIB Group includes EIB and EFSI investments and loans. 
142 European Investment Bank, Factsheet, Poland, 2017.  

29 

                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

Figure 22: EIB loans to Poland in 2018143 

recycling;  reduce  air  pollution;  promote  sustainable 
water  management,  protect  biodiversity  and 
develop green infrastructure 

European Fund for Strategic Investments 

The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) is an 
initiative to help overcome the current investment gap in 
the  EU.  As  of  January  2019,  it  has  mobilised  EUR 3.7 
billion in Poland, and the secondary investment triggered 
by this is expected to be EUR 16.2 billion144. 

National environmental financing 

Poland  spent  EUR 1 794.2 million  on  environmental 
protection  in  2016,  which  represents  a  decrease  of 
30.6 % from 2015  145. 20.7 % of these payments went on 
waste management activities (the EU average is 49.7 %), 
27 %  (i.e.  EUR 489 million)  on  waste  water  management 
and  12.5 % 
(i.e.  EUR 224.6 million)  on  pollution 
abatement.  5.6 %  of  environmental  expenditure  was 
allocated  to  protecting  biodiversity  and  the  landscape 
(EUR 100.5 million).  Between  2012  and  2016,  general 
government funding for environmental protection added 
up to EUR 11 672.5 million in current prices 146. 

As  it  has  been  mentioned  in  the  report,  one  of  the 
challenges  for  Poland  is  to  ensure  that  environmental 
financing  and  capacity  remain  at  an  adequate  level. 
Existent financial gaps in areas such as air, water quality 
and  waste  management,  green 
infrastructure  or 
biodiversity  are  delaying  the  correct  implementation  of 
EU  environmental  law  and  policies.  Therefore,  ensuring 
financial  resources  to  reduce  the  implementation  gap 
should be considered as a priority for the country. 

2019 priority actions 

  Use  EU  Funds  to  build  necessary  capacities  and 
know-how  at  all  levels  of  administration  involved  in 
implementation and enforcement. 

  Mobilise investment, including through EU funds, to 
prevent  waste,  encourage  separate  collection  and 

143 EIB, Poland and the EIB, 2018. 
144 European Investment Bank, EFSI project map. 
145 European Commission, Eurostat, General Government Expenditure 
by function, 2018.  
146 European Commission, Eurostat, General Government Expenditure 
by function, 2018. 

30 

 
                                                                 
 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

5. Strengthening environmental governance  

Information, public participation and access to 
justice 

Citizens  can  more  effectively  protect  the  environment  if 
they  can  rely  on  the  three  ‘pillars’  of  the  Aarhus 
Convention:  
(i) access to information;  
(ii) public participation in decision making; and  
(iii) access to justice in environmental matters.  

It is of crucial importance to public authorities, the public 
and  business  that  environmental  information  is  shared 
efficiently  and  effectively147.  Public  participation  allows 
authorities  to  make  decisions  that  take  public  concerns 
into account. Access to justice is a set of guarantees that 
allows  citizens  and  NGOs  to  use  national  courts  to 
protect the environment148. It includes the right to bring 
legal challenges (‘legal standing’)149. 

Environmental information  

Centralised governance of information is weak, owing to 
limited  access,  the  existence  of  different  portals  and 
difficulties  with  managing  environmental  information. 
The  environmental  information  that  is  publicly  available 
is 
fragmented  and  distributed  among  different 
databases,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  single  unified 
environmental  portal. 
Individual  portals  provide 
information  on  specific  topics.  One  example  is  the  air 
quality portal,150 another the GIOSInspire Geoportal.151  

There  is  room  for  improvement  as  regards  Poland’s 
performance  in  the  implementing  the  INSPIRE  Directive 
on  infrastructure  for  spatial  information  in  Europe.  The 
accessibility  of  spatial  data  through  view  and  download 
is  poor.  Poland's  performance  has  been 
services 
reviewed  on 
the  country's  2016 
implementation  report152  and  more  recent  monitoring 
data  from  2017.153  Data  sharing  and  reuse,  data 

the  basis  of 

147 The Aarhus Convention, the Access to Environmental Information 
Directive, 2003/4/EC and the INSPIRE Directive, 2007/2 together create 
a legal foundation for the sharing of environmental information 
between public authorities and with the public. This EIR focuses on 
INSPIRE. 
148 The guarantees are explained in Commission Notice on access to 
justice in environmental matters, OJL 275, 18.8.2017 and a related 
Citizen’s Guide. 
149 This EIR looks at how well Member States explain access to justice 
rights to the public, and at legal standing and other major barriers to 
bringing cases on nature and air pollution. 
150 GIOS air quality portal.  
151 GIOSInspire Geoportal is a spatial database that contains 
comprehensive information about environmental monitoring 
infrastructure in Poland 
152 INSPIRE PL country sheet 2017.  
153 INSPIRE monitoring dashboard. 

identification and the documentation of data have made 
good  progress  and  show  good  implementation  levels. 
However,  further  efforts  are  needed  to  make  data 
accessible 
prioritise 
services 
environmental  datasets  in  implementation,  especially 
those  identified  as  spatial  datasets  of  high  value  in 
implementing environmental legislation154.  

through 

and 

to 

Figure  23:  Access  to  spatial  data  through  view  and 
download services in Poland (2017)  

Public participation  

In Poland, public participation is regulated mainly by the 
Act of 3 October 2008 on access to information about the 
environment  and  its  protection  and  public  participation 
in  environmental  protection  and  environmental  impact 
assessments.155  

Although  there  are  individual  examples  of  efforts  to 
encourage  public  participation,  but  no  information  was 
available  on  a  central  information  portal  about  any 
initiatives  to  support  or  encourage  public  participation 
across policy areas or in the environmental field.  

Eurobarometer  figures  from  2017  show  a  relatively 
strong consensus in Poland (80 % of respondents) that an 
individual can play a role in protecting the environment.  

Access to justice  

Access  to  justice  in  environmental  matters  is  a  set  of 
guarantees  enabling  members  of  the  public  and  public 
associations to challenge acts or omissions by the public 

154 List of high value spatial data sets . 
155 Ustawa z dnia 3 października 2008 r. o udostępnianiu informacji o 
środowisku I jego ochronie, udziale społeczeństwa w ochronie 
środowiska oraz o ocenach oddziaływania na środowisko (Dz. U 2017 
poz. 1405). 

31 

 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

administration  before  a  court.156  These  guarantees 
include  the  right  to  bring  a  legal  action,  protection 
against prohibitive costs, and practical information.  

An issue mentioned in the 2017 EIR, however, is that it is 
not  possible  to  apply  for  an  interim  measure  in  certain 
administrative  procedures, 
cases  where 
building  permits  remain  valid  even  though  infringement 
proceedings are under way.  

including 

The current EIR focuses on practical information and legal 
standing and other barriers to bringing cases concerning 
air pollution and nature to court.  

Poland  needs  to  make  significant  progress  on  informing 
the  public  about  effective  remedies  for  individuals  and 
in 
environmental  associations  and  access  to  justice 
law. 
environmental  matters  under  Polish  and  EU 
Searches  conducted  'as  a  citizen  looking  for  information 
on  access  to  justice'  produce  no  user-friendly  official 
results. The public authorities thus need to make clearly 
structured and user-friendly information available online.  

'breach  of 

interpretation  of 
legal 

Under  the  Polish  legal  framework,  legal  standing  is 
granted  to  those  individuals  -  whether  natural  or  legal 
persons - who have a 'legal interest'. Polish jurisprudence 
'legal 
has  adopted  a  very  narrow 
interest'  and 
interest'.  Social 
organisations enjoy standing in cases regarding individual 
administrative decisions where they represent a common 
interest.  Such  an  organisation  may  participate  in  the 
proceedings with the rights of a party. This means that it 
enjoys  the  same  rights  as  a  party  to  the  proceedings, 
including the right to appeal. In order to be admitted to 
the  proceedings,  an  organisation  must  file  a  relevant 
motion.  Environmental  NGOs  have  more  rights  than 
other  social  organisations 
in  environmental  cases 
requiring public participation, because they do not need 
to prove that 'public interest requires their participation'. 
The 
the 
organisation  if  it  has  environmental  objectives  in  its 
statute.  The  wider  rights  in  administrative  proceedings 
automatically  result  in  wider  standing  in  proceedings 
In  addition,  an 
before 
environmental  NGO  may  appeal  against  the  decision  to 
the authority of second instance, even if it not had taken 
part in the administrative proceedings at first instance.  

the  administrative  court. 

relevant  authority 

is  obliged 

to  admit 

a  Communication  presented  the  Compliance  Committee 
of  the  Aarhus  Convention157,  in  practice  NGOs  do  not 
enjoy 
laws  that 
contravene  national  law  relating  to  environment,  unless 
these NGOs are injured in their own right. 

legal  standing  to  challenge 

local 

Against  this  background,  significant  changes  are  needed 
in Polish laws and practices,  especially as regards NGOs' 
legal  standing,  even  for  situations  such  as  Natura  2000 
sites  or  air  quality  plans158,  on  which  the  EU  Court  of 
Justice handed down clear judgments.  

the  majority  of 

For  complaint  to  the  administrative  court  of  the  first 
instance,  the  Polish  legal  system  uses  court  fees  which 
vary  according  to  the  value  of  the  case,  but  only  when 
the value of the case at stake may be measured. The fees 
range  from  1 %  to  4 %  of  the  value  at  stake,  with  the 
minimum  fee  of  PLN 100  and  the  maximum  fee  of 
PLN 100 000.  However, 
the 
in 
environmental cases where the value of the case at stake 
cannot  be  measured,  the  court  fee  for  complaint  to  the 
Administrative  Court  of  first  instance  in  environmental 
cases  is  fixed  for  PLN 200.  Different  fees  apply  for 
complaint  to  the  Administrative  Court  of  the  second 
instance.  Apart  from  these  fees,  parties  have  to  cover 
their  own  expenses,  including  attorney  costs  (if  they 
decide to have an attorney).  In case the authorities lose 
the case they have to pay the winner its costs (both court 
and attorney fees not exceeding statutory rates, but not 
costs of potential experts), but if authorities win, they are 
not entitled to claim their costs. 

2019 priority actions 

 

 

Improve  access  to  spatial  data  and  services  by 
making  stronger 
linkages  between  the  country 
INSPIRE  portals  ,  identify  and  document  all  spatial 
datasets  required  to  implement  environmental  law, 
and  make  the  data  and  documentation  at  least 
accessible  'as  is'  to  other  public  authorities  and  the 
public  through  the  digital  services  envisaged  in  the 
INSPIRE Directive. 
framework  and/or  practical 
Improve  the 
arrangements  (by  creating  a  single  webpage,  for 
instance) 
in 
implementing  EU  legislation  with  an  impact  on  the 

facilitate  public  participation 

legal 

to 

However, not all decisions with an environmental impact 
can be challenged. An example is the adoption of a forest 
management  plan.  Moreover,  the  rules  on  access  to 
justice in environmental cases differ for air  quality plans 
or  strategic  decisions  and  for  individual  administrative 
decisions, such as environmental decisions, IPPC permits 
or sectoral emission permits. In addition, on the basis of 

156 Details are set out in Commission "Notice on Access to Justice in 
Environmental Matters", OJL 275, 18.8.2017, p. 1. 

157 Communication to the Compliance Committee of the Aarhus 
Convention (ACCC/C/2016/151). The involved parties to the procedure 
should submit to the Committee, by 22 August 2018, any written 
explanations or statements clarifying the matter referred to in the 
communication. 
158 In a ruling of 23 January 2018, the Supreme Administrative Court has 
rejected a cassation complaint, on the ruling of the Regional 
Administrative Court which rejected a complaint for lack of standing. In 
the original complaint of April 2017, the complainant called on the 
Assembly of Śląskie Voivodship to cease to violate the law by repealing 
its Air Protection Programme. The complainant indicated that the 
existing Air Protection Programmes was in breach of number of laws, 
including the CAFE directive. 

32 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

 

environment, in line with the Aarhus Convention.  
Take  the  necessary  measures  to  ensure  that 
environmental  NGOs  have  the  standing  required  to 
be able to challenge the acts or omissions of a public 
authority  in  all  sectoral  EU  environmental  laws, 
especially  in  relation  to  air  pollution  and  nature,  in 
full  compliance  with  EU 
law  and  the  Aarhus 
Convention. 

Compliance assurance 

to  ensure 

Environmental compliance assurance covers all the work 
that 
undertaken  by  public  authorities 
industries,  farmers  and  others  fulfil  their  obligations  to 
protect  water,  air  and  nature,  and  manage  waste159.  It 
includes  support  measures  provided  by  the  authorities, 
such as:  
(i) compliance promotion160;  
(ii) inspections and other checks that they carry out, i.e. 
compliance monitoring161; and  
(iii)  the  steps  that  they  take  to  stop  breaches,  impose 
sanctions  and  require  damage  to  be  remedied,  i.e. 
enforcement162.  
Citizen  science  and  complaints  enable  authorities  to 
liability163 
focus  their  efforts  better.  Environmental 
ensures that the polluter pays to remedy any damage. 

Citizen science and complaint handling  

Public  engagement  through  approaches  such  as  citizen 
science  can  deepen  knowledge  of  the  environment  and 
help the authorities in their work. However, there appear 
to be no publicly available sources of information about 
the  use  of  community  science  tools  for  compliance 
monitoring purposes.  
The  Ministry  of  the  Environment's  website166  has  a 
section  on  various  public  awareness  campaigns  run  by 
the Ministry.  

The  availability  of  clear  online  information  on  how  to 
make  a  complaint  is  an  indicator  of  how  responsive 
authorities  are  to  complaints  by  the  public.  The  website 
of  the  Chief  Inspectorate  of  Environmental  Protection167 
provides a step-by-step guide to submitting a complaint. 
It  also  explains  which  authority  members  of  the  public 
should contact for which topic. The level of detail of the 
information  supplied  by  the  websites  of  the  various 
regional  inspectorates  on  how  to  launch  and  follow  the 
varies 
progress  of  an  environmental 
significantly  from  region  to  region.  A  good  example  is  a 
website  run  by  the  Lublin  Regional  Inspectorate  which 
tells  users  how  to  submit  a  complaint  and  provides 
templates for specific types of complaints168.  

complaint 

Compliance promotion and monitoring  

Enforcement 

The quality of online information to help farmers comply 
with obligations on nitrates and nature is an indicator of 
how  actively  authorities  promote  compliance  in  areas 
with  serious  implementation  gaps.  The  websites  of  the 
relevant  Polish  authorities  include  information  of  this 
kind. However, it could be more comprehensive, and the 
presentation could be more user-friendly.  

Major  industrial  installations  present  serious  pollution 
risks.  Public  authorities  are  required  to  have  plans  to 
inspect  them  and  to  make  individual  inspection  reports 
available to the public164. However, there  seems to be  a 
lack  of  structured  public  information  about  such  plans 
and  reports  in  Poland.  The  main  body  in  charge  of 
environmental  inspection  under  the  Industrial  Emissions 
Directive  is  the  Chief  Inspectorate  of  Environmental 
Protection (GIOŚ165). 

159 COM(2018)10, SWD(2018)10. 
160 This EIR focuses on the help given to farmers to comply with nature 
and nitrates legislation. 
161 This EIR focuses on inspections of major industrial installations. 
162This EIR focuses on the availability of enforcement data and co-
ordination between authorities to tackle environmental crime. 
163 The Environmental Liability Directive, 2004/35, creates the 
framework. 
164 Article 23, Industrial Emissions Directive, 2010/75/EU. 
165 Główny Inspektorat Ochrony Środowiska. 

When  monitoring 
responses may be appropriate.  

identifies  problems,  a  range  of 

Yearly statistics on environmental crimes are available on 
the  website  of  the  Polish  Police169.  The  information 
published  covers  the  number  of  started  proceedings, 
stated  crimes,  detected  crimes  and  the  detection  index 
(expressed as a percentage).  

close 

threats 

cooperation 

to  wildlife  and  other 
Tackling  waste, 
is  especially  challenging  and 
environmental  crimes 
requires 
coordination 
arrangements  between  inspectors,  customs  authorities, 
police  and  prosecutors.  Poland  recognises  the  added 
value  of  structured  cooperation  and  coordination. 
However,  public 
is 
fragmented and incomplete.  

information  on  these  subjects 

and 

Environmental liability 

The  Environmental  Liability  Directive  (ELD)  establishes  a 
framework  based  on  the  ‘polluter  pays’  principle  to 
prevent  and  remedy  environmental  damage.  The  2017 

166 See: Ministry for Environment, public campaigns website. 
167 Główny Inspektorat Ochrony Środowiska, Organy właściwe w 
sprawach skarg i interwencji, 2008.  
168 Lublin Inspectorate website on complaint handling. 
169 Police website on environmental crime (Przestępstwa przeciwko 
środowisku).  

33 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

EIR  focused  on  the  need  for  better  information  on 
environmental  damage,  financial  security  and  guidance. 
The  Commission 
is  still  collecting  evidence  of  the 
progress made. 

2019 priority actions 

 

 

 

 

Improve  public 
information  about  compliance 
promotion,  monitoring  and  enforcement.  As  a 
minimum,  this  means  providing  more  detailed  and 
better structured information online to help farmers 
meet their obligations as regards nitrates and nature 
and providing more online information on inspection 
plans and reports on industrial inspections. 
Publish  information  about  follow-up  action  when 
cross-compliance  breaches  of  rules  on  nitrates  and 
nature are detected. 
Provide  more  information  on  how  professionals 
dealing with environmental crime work together. 
Improve  financial  security  for  liabilities  and  ELD-
guidance  and  publish  information  on  environmental 
damage. 

Effectiveness of environmental 
administrations  

in 

involved 

implementing 

Those 
environmental 
legislation at EU, national, regional and local levels need 
to have the knowledge, tools and capacity to ensure that 
the  legislation  and  the  governance  of  the  enforcement 
process bring about the intended benefits. 

for  adoption  to  the  Polish  Parliament  on  its  members’ 
own initiative. This allows for avoiding consultations with 
the public which would otherwise have to be held.  

Science  plays  a  key  role  in  environmental  decision-
making  procedures.  However,  as  the  Białowieża  Forest 
case shows, there seems to be an increasing tendency in 
Poland to underpin decisions by selective data supporting 
certain desired outcomes, while ignoring other evidence. 
This  affects  the  quality  of  environmental  decision-
making,  which  should  be  open, 
transparent  and 
participatory  and  take  the  best  scientific  evidence  into 
account. 

Poland  continues  to  be  among  the  EU  countries  with  a 
high  number  of  environmental  infringements.  Nature 
protection has become the area with most complaints, a 
change since the 2017 EIR.  

Administrative capacity and quality 

Coordination and integration  

An  institutional  reform  of  powers  relating  to  water  was 
implemented  in  2017.  The  minister  for  the  marine 
economy and inland navigation, who took up his post in 
2016,  took  over  powers  relating  to  water  management, 
including those concerning the implementation of water 
directives,  from  the  minister  for  the  environment.  This 
means  the  same  minister  is  responsible  for  protecting 
water  ecosystems  and  for  planning  and  implementing 
projects  to  do  with  inland  navigation  infrastructure.  It 
appears that nothing has been done to tackle the conflict 
of  interest,  mentioned  in  the  2017  EIR  that  arises  from 
delegating two opposing roles - as an investor and as an 
authority  responsible  for  protecting  water  -  to  a  single 
authority. 
effective 
implementation  of  certain  provisions  of  the  Water 
Framework  Directive.  It  may  also  present  a  risk  to 
compliance with the revised EIA Directive, which requires 
authorities  to  perform  their  duties 
in  an  objective 
manner; this implies that they must not find themselves 
in a situation giving a rise to a conflict of interest. 

This  may 

undermine 

the 

There  have  also  been  changes  in  the  way  legislative 
proposals  are  introduced.  More  draft  laws,  especially 
those  relating  to  nature,  have  been  formally  submitted 

34 

As  mentioned  in  the  2017  EIR,  the  incorporation  into 
Polish  law  of  the  revised  EIA  Directive170  provides  an 
opportunity  to  streamline  the  regulatory  framework  on 
environmental assessments.  Poland enacted the content 
of the Directive by the deadline (May 2017).  

the 

The  Commission  encourages 
streamlining  of 
environmental  assessments  to  reduce  duplication  and 
avoid  overlaps  in  environmental  assessments  applicable 
to  projects.  Moreover,  streamlining  helps  reduce  any 
unnecessary  administrative  burden  and  speeds  up 
decision-making,  without  compromising  the  quality  of 
the environmental assessment procedure.171  

The  streamlining  of  environmental  assessments  under 
the  EIA,  Habitats  and  Water  Framework  Directives  got 

170 Directive 2014/52/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council 
of 16 April 2014 amending Directive 2011/92/EU on the assessment of 
the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment. 
171 The Commission issued a guidance document in 2016 regarding the 
setting up of coordinated and/or joint procedures that are 
simultaneously subject to assessments under the EIA Directive, Habitats 
Directive, Water Framework Directive, and the Industrial Emissions 
Directive, OJ C 273, 27.7.2016, p. 1.  

 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

under way in Poland before the revised EIA Directive was 
incorporated  into  national  legislation.  For  assessments 
under  EIA  and  the  Industrial  Emissions  Directive,  the 
procedure is coordinated.  

 
 
 

the LIFE Programme, 
the Norwegian Financial Mechanism, and 
the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism.  

the 

information  about 

The  rules  of  procedure  of  the  Polish  Council  of 
Ministers172  require  an  impact  assessment  of  draft  laws 
as  part  of  the  governmental  regulatory  process;  the 
scope  of  the  assessment  depends  on  the  type  of  draft 
law under examination. This assessment uses a standard 
form that is also available online173. The official guidelines 
provide  detailed 
impact 
assessment procedure and the standards it must meet174. 
However, a recent audit conducted by the Supreme Audit 
Chamber  in  several  selected  ministries  concluded  that 
only  a  third  of  the  impact  assessments  examined  had 
been  performed  correctly175.  Similarly,  the  Bartelsmann 
Indicators176 
Foundation  for  Sustainable  Governance 
gave  Poland’s  regulatory  impact  assessment  process  a 
low score of 2.7 out of 10. Moreover, the audit referred 
to above gave the 'sustainability check' component of the 
regulatory  impact  assessment  (which  includes  social, 
economic and environmental issues) a very low score of 2 
out of 10. 

fees  and  penalties,  product 

The  National  Fund  manages  funding  collected  from 
environmental 
fees, 
concessions  for  use  of  environmental  resources,  and 
income from the sale of greenhouse gas allowances. This 
funding  is  spent  on  loans  and  grants  for  waste  water 
projects, disaster prevention (especially flood protection 
and 
prevention),  waste  management, 
rehabilitation  of  contaminated  sites,  energy  efficiency 
and  renewable  energies,  nature  conservation  measures 
and raising public awareness. The selection of projects is 
based  on  an  annual  priority  list  setting  out  measures  to 
be  supported 
in  the  following  year  and  detailed 
conditions for project selection.  

landslide 

2019 priority action 

 

Poland can further improve its overall environmental 
citizen 
governance 
engagement,  compliance  and  enforcement,  as  well 
as administrative capacity and coordination). 

transparency, 

(such 

as 

Adaptability, 
(eGovernment) 

reform 

dynamics 

and 

innovation 

International agreements  

Polish  public  authorities  are  increasingly  adopting  and 
interact  with  public  or 
using  electronic  services  to 
regulated  entities  online.  However,  for  Digital  Public 
Services, Poland had a score of 0.53/1 based on Europe's 
Digital Progress Report 2017, this is lower than the EU28 
average (0.55/1)177. In the DESI Report 2018, Poland had 
a score of 48 out of 100 on digital public services, lower 
than the EU average of 58178. 

Enabling financing and effective use of funds  

Established in 1989, the National Fund for Environmental 
Protection  and  Water  Management  (NFOŚiGW)  is  the 
main  body  providing  financial  and  technical  support  to 
in 
promoters  of  environmental  protection  projects, 
particular those being co-financed by: 

 

the Cohesion policy funds, 

172 The rules of Procedure of the Council of Ministers (Regulamin Pracy 
Rady Ministrow). 
173 Assessment in governmental procedure, Office for Prime Minister 
Ocena wpływu w rządowym procesie legislacyjnym. 
174 Guidelines for impact assessment procedure (Wytyczne do 
przeprowadzania oceny wpływu oraz konsultacji publicznych w ramach 
rządowego procesu legislacyjnego). 
175 Supreme Audit Chamber report. 
176 Bartelsmann Stiftung, Evidence-based Instruments. 
177 European Commission, Europe's Digital Progress Report (EDPR) 2017 
Country Profile Poland, 2017, p. 9,  
178 European Commission, Digital Economy and Society Index Report 
2018, Digital Public Services. 

The  EU  Treaties  require  the  EU  environmental  policy  to 
promote  measures  at  international  level  to  deal  with 
regional or worldwide environmental problems. 

The EU is committed to strengthening environmental law 
and its implementation globally. It therefore continues to 
support  the  Global  Pact  for  the  Environment  process, 
which  was  launched  by  the  United  Nations  General 
Assembly  in  May  2018179.  The  EIR  is  one  of  the  tools  to 
ensure  that  the  Member  States  set  a  good  example  by 
respecting  European  Union  environmental  policies  and 
laws and international agreements.  

the  Gothenburg 

Poland  has signed but  not  yet  ratified three agreements 
under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air 
to  Abate 
Pollution: 
Acidification,  Eutrophication  and  Ground-Level  Ozone, 
the Persistent Organic Pollutions Protocol and the Heavy 
Metals  Protocol.  The  same  applies  to  the  Nagoya 
Protocol.  Poland  has  neither  signed  nor  ratified  the 
African-Eurasian Migratory Water Bird Agreement.  

Protocol 

Forests:  EU  Timber  Regulation  (EUTR)180/  Forest  Law 
Enforcement,  Governance 
(FLEGT) 
Regulation181 

Trade 

and 

179 UN General Assembly Resolution 72/277 and Organizational session 
of the ad hoc open-ended working group.  
180 Regulation (EU) No 995/2010. 
181 Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005. 

35 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Poland 

exchanged  through  the  EU-TWIX  platform,  testify  to  the 
activity of customs authorities.  

Poland  is  working  to  bring  national  legislation  into  line 
with  the  standards  of  EU  wildlife  regulations  and  to 
improve the national authorities’ capacity to fight wildlife 
crime. 

2019 priority action 

 

Increase  efforts  to  be  party  to  relevant  multilateral 
environmental  agreements,  by  signing  and  ratifying 
the remaining agreements. 

Sustainable 
implementation of the UN SDGs 

development 

and 

the 

Sustainable development links environmental, social and 
economic policies in a coherent framework and therefore 
helps  to 
legislation  and 
policies. 

implement  environmental 

statistics  have  been  disseminating 
Polish  official 
knowledge  and  promoting  issues  relating  to  sustainable 
development  for  many  years.  Various  activities  in  line 
with  international  initiatives  have  been  undertaken  for 
this  purpose.  For  instance,  a  set  of  SDG  indicators 
monitoring national priorities has been set up. Moreover 
statistical  information  is  made  publicly  available  on  a 
dedicated e-platform185.  

Additionally,  it  has  been  recognised  that  implementing 
the SDGs requires a complex programme.  

A  special  Task  Force  for  cohesion  between  the  Strategy 
for  Responsible  Development  up  to  2020  (with  a  2030 
perspective)  and  the  2030  Agenda  for  Sustainable 
Development  and its sustainable development  goals has 
therefore been set up186. The unit facilitates cooperation 
between  administrative  authorities  and  socioeconomic 
partners  with  a  view  to  creating  a  mechanism  for 
coordinating  and  implementing  the  SDGs  in  Poland.  In 
2018,  Poland  submitted 
its  first  National  Voluntary 
Review on the implementation of the SDGs to the UN187. 

Under  the  European  Timber  Trade  Regulation  (EUTR), 
which  bans  placing  illegally  harvested  timber  on  the  EU 
market,  EU  countries'  competent  authorities  must 
conduct  regular  checks  on  operators  and  traders  and 
impose penalties in the event of non-compliance. 

Between March  2015  and  June  2018,  Poland  conducted 
56  checks  planned  for  operators  working  with  domestic 
timber and 200 checks planned for timber importers. So 
far, 
two 
administrative  fines  on  importers  found  to  be  in  breach 
of EUTR obligations.  

the  Polish  authorities  have 

imposed 

collaboration  with 

(Article  12  EUTR),  Poland 
As  regards  cooperation 
reported 
government 
institutions  in  Poland  and  with  other  EU  competent 
authorities,  mainly  through  FLEGT/EUTR  Expert  Group 
meetings  and  the  Ad  Hoc  Expert  Group  on  Forest  Law 
Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT). 

other 

Genetic  resources:  Nagoya  Protocol  on  Access  to 
Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of 
Benefits Arising (ABS)182  

infringements  of 

In  accordance  with  the  EU  Access  and  Benefit  Sharing 
(ABS)  Regulation,  which  incorporates  the  compliance 
measures  required  under  the  Nagoya  Protocol  into  the 
EU  law,  Poland  has  designated  competent  authorities 
and  enacted  penalties 
the 
for 
Regulation.  Voivodeship  inspectors  for  environmental 
protection  carry  out  the  checks  to  verify  whether  users 
have  complied  with  their  obligations  under  Article  4  of 
ABS  Regulation.  Moreover,  a  risk-based  plan  has  been 
developed in 2018. No due diligence declaration has yet 
been  submitted,  nor  have  any  penalties  been  imposed. 
Poland  submitted  its  first  report  on  the  implementation 
of  the  EU  ABS  Regulation  to  the  Commission  at  the  end 
of 2017.  

the  Convention  on 
trade: 
International  wildlife 
International  Trade  in  Endangered  Species  of  Wild 
Fauna and Flora (CITES)183 
In  accordance  with  the  basic  regulation184  incorporating 
the major obligations stemming from the Convention on 
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna 
and  Flora  (CITES)  into  EU  law,  Poland  has  established 
appropriate  national  authorities  and  regularly  processes 
requests for import, export, re-export and intra-EU trade 
documents.  

Reports  on  seizures  of  illegal  shipments,  in  particular 
those  reported  every  six  months  to  TRAFFIC  and  those 

182 Regulation (EU) No 511/2014. 
183 The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of 
Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). 
184 Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97. 

185 Poland's SDG platform. 
186 Implementation of SDGs by Poland, 2018 report. 
187 National Voluntary review on the implementation of the SDGs to the 
UN. 

36