Law and Justice (PiS) leader Jarosław Kaczyński has said that building restrictions for supermarkets should not be lifted.
According to him, building supermarkets and hypermarkets in a completely unregulated way is against Poland's social and national interests.
A conference on the future of Polish trade organized by PiS took place in parliament today. The former PM Kaczyński, experts, local authorities and representatives of trade organizations took part.
At the end of January, the European Commission questioned the Polish law introduced in 2007, which stipulates that building a shop with retail space from 400 to 2000 square metres requires the consent of the municipality; a shop bigger than 2000 square metres requires the consent of the municipality and the province's government assembly. According to the EC, the law is a violation of the free flow of services.
Jarosław Kaczyński said that supermarkets need to be regulated and stressed that recently, various lobbyists even want the 'not too radical restrictions' to be lifted. According to Kaczyński, Poland still needs time to build its middle class, the creation of which is closely connected to trade and is threatened by the uncontrolled appearance of super and hypermarkets. (mo)