| In Principle

Until recently, Poland was the most dynamic market for RES and electricity investments in Central and Eastern Europe. Over time, however, the lack of available grid connection capacity became a major bottleneck. Many holders of old grid connection conditions, issued years earlier under old rules, were in no hurry to proceed with their projects. In 2025, around 70% of investors’ grid connection conditions applications met with refusals. Due to the limited capacity of the grid, the situation led to a deadlock. Market estimates suggest around 100 GW of “blocked” or even “dead” grid connection capacity that could be otherwise transferred to functioning wind installations or PV projects. The new “Grid Act” intends to change this.

In our earlier article “The EU–Mercosur trade agreement and access to the public procurement market,” we analysed the potential significance for public procurement of the trade deal, which was then still being negotiated. That was a few months ago, and since then the agreement has been signed, a decision has been taken on temporary application of the agreement, and the case has also been sent to the Court of Justice of the European Union for review. This is a good time to consider the current phase of implementation of the deal, what it means for businesses, and what scenarios may lie ahead.

For nearly three years, financial market entities have had the possibility of reaching a settlement on the terms for extraordinary mitigation of sanctions imposed by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF). During that time KNF has offered 29 settlements to businesses, only one of which involved complete waiver of a fine. 

Belarus is one of the countries submitting the most extradition requests to the Polish authorities. In 2025 the Polish courts considered a dozen or more such cases. But given the current political situation in Belarus, the question arises whether the extradition procedure has become an instrument for pursuing opponents of the Belarusian regime. 

Poland’s first nuclear energy project is entering the phase of obtaining key administrative permits. Such projects are exceptional in the sense that only a limited number of them can be built in the foreseeable future, based on known technologies. Combining this with the strategic importance of these projects, it is justifiable to create special legal regimes for them. A proposal has just been filed with the parliament to amend the Act on Preparation and Execution of Nuclear Power Plants and Accompanying Projects, intended to streamline this process. 

Until now, the administrative courts in Poland have issued only a handful of rulings on the statutory duty to maintain the confidentiality of insurance information. But in March 2026 the Supreme Administrative Court revisited this issue, holding that the city guard may demand information from an insurer under a civil liability policy for motor vehicles in order to punish the holder of a vehicle for illegal parking.

The reform of procurement appeal procedures seeks to stop tactical opportunism in the hearing room, but drastically worsens the situation of honest litigants seeking to defend their own interests on the merits. This is the most serious adverse side effect of the amendment.

We recently reported on the growing number of lawsuits against banks by consumers challenging clauses in credit agreements based on the WIBOR benchmark, alleging that they are “unfair” under Directive 93/13/EEC. Both lenders and borrowers anxiously awaited a decision by the Court of Justice in C-471/24, J.J. v PKO BP SA, on a request for a preliminary ruling submitted by the Częstochowa Regional Court. The judgment handed down on 12 February 2026 clearly met the expectations of the banking sector more than borrowers. 

There is no presumption of legality if it can be shown that a trademark may unfairly exploit the reputation of a protected designation of origin, even if the trademark covers only products complying with the specifications of the designation or related services.

The outbreak of full-scale war in Ukraine greatly changed the practice for cooperation by Polish prosecutors’ offices and courts with the justice system of the Russian Federation. Before 2022, Russia submitted more extradition requests than any other country to Poland, and the Polish courts sometimes routinely accepted the requests. Four years on, it is a good moment to examine these relations and consider how they might look in the near future.

This was the holding by the Supreme Administrative Court of Poland in the judgment of 4 November 2025 (case no. I OSK 1987/22). In that case, the administrative authorities had ordered the co-owners of real estate to repay the discount they had received on the conversion fee, on the grounds that a company had been registered at that address.

For years the EU and India sought to work out a comprehensive trade agreement. The first round of negotiations was launched in 2007, but talks broke off in 2013 when the parties failed to agree on key regulatory areas, particularly involving the automotive sector. After an impasse of nearly a decade, negotiations on a free-trade agreement were resumed in 2022 and completed on 27 January 2026 in New Delhi.