What proves to be characteristic of the democratic system is the fact that it constantly witnesses various tensions between authorities, opposition, citizens, diverse legal subjects, advocacy groups, etc. Their disputes concern changing or upholding the existing legal environment, which is unavoidable in this case. This situation is not surprising or improper as lobbying understood in this way is an immanent, often useful part of the system. However, what may be puzzling is the fact that democratic political systems are characterized by the variety of attitudes adopted by authorities toward the practice - from pretending it does not exist (and thus requires no regulations) to implementing regulations of a highly general nature. Poland experiences both the practice itself and the attempts to legally regulate it. The aim of the article is to critically analyze the existing situation.

A Good Start, but Still Far from the Podium. About the First Statutory Lobbying Regulations in Germany at the Federal and National Level

On January 1, 2022, two German laws on the regulation of lobbying entered into force. While the Bavarian law is the third regulation of this type adopted in the Länder, the German-wide statutory lobbying regulation is a novelty. The aim of this article is – apart from presenting the latest German lobbying regulations, which have not been described so far in the Polish scientific literature – to answer the question about their assessment against the background of the standards developed in the legislative and scientific achievements in the world. Do the latest German lobbying regulations meet these standards or, on the contrary, do they duplicate the errors repeatedly described in the literature? Or maybe these regulations also contain innovative solutions that should be copied in the lobbying regulations of other countries? Finally, do Länder laws differ from federal laws and how? The assessment of the German lobbying laws is ambiguous. On the one hand, it looks like their authors got acquainted with the literature on the subject, in which the model of optimal regulation was formulated, and German laws contain even innovative solutions. On the other – the shortcomings of the regulation outweigh its advantages – which was already signaled at the stage of legislative works. The laws deserve revision, but are a good start on the way to effectively regulate and scrutinize lobbying activities in Germany.

The process of consultations with civil society is important as it contributes to a transparent legislative process and a good balance of interests in the legislative proposals. In the European Union works on the consultations with stakeholders have accelerated with the publication of the White Paper on European Governance in 2001. In Poland, we have been observing a number of initiatives concerning public consultations and dialogue with civil society in recent years, both on the side of the central administration and the non-governmental organisations. In this context, the analysis of the European consultation standards is even more important. It seems that the European experience in that area constitutes a good reference for the national solutions. This article analyses the EU standards concerning the process of consultations with interested parties. Having in mind effectiveness of EU lobbying groups as well as certain weak points of the Commission consultation process, this article seeks, in particular, to evaluate the Commission new “Stakeholder Consultation Guidelines”. The article concludes also with some reflections on how the EU standards could apply for the Polish consultation practices in the legislative works.