Faster, but is it any easier?

The current act The Act for the Acquisition of Real Estate by Foreigners, dated 1920, is one of Poland's longest-standing laws and is now eighty-four years old. According to its provisions, the agreements for the acquisition of real estate and the shares in companies, which own or have the right to perpetual usufruct of real estate, are legal in Poland if an appropriate permit has been obtained. In the period 1990 - 2002, the Minister of Internal Affairs issued approximately 20,000 permits, and slightly over 2,000 rejections. The need to amend the act came about because of Poland's impending membership of the European Union. In addition, the long period during which the act remained relatively unchanged, despite the changing free market conditions in Poland, meant that amending it was somewhat overdue. Below, are a few comments regarding the planned amendment. The draft amendment The draft amendment of the act has had its first reading in Parliament,