Nawrocki signs five bills, including Poland-UK defence treaty ratification

Five bills signed on 4 November

President Karol Nawrocki signed five bills, the Chancellery of the President of Poland announced on Wednesday, 4 November. The package covers ratification of the Poland-UK treaty on partnership in security and defence, ratification of a Council of Europe convention on co-producing audiovisual works in the form of series, an amendment to the copyright law, a write-off of ZUS social insurance receivables dating from before 1999, and an amendment to the road traffic law. The Chancellery framed the bills as a way to strengthen national security and reduce unnecessary administrative duties for businesses. The treaty law is one of the five and is the most consequential of them.

The defence treaty with the United Kingdom

The Sejm passed the enabling law on 18 September, giving the president consent to ratify the agreement. Under article 89(1) of the constitution, ratifying alliance agreements and political or military accords requires prior consent expressed in a statute. Prime Minister Donald Tusk and then UK prime minister Keir Starmer signed the treaty on 27 May at the Northolt air base in London. The agreement covers cooperation on defence, the arms industry, cybersecurity, and economic and energy security. Both parties commit to mutual assistance in the event of armed attack. The treaty expands the Poland-UK cooperation agreement on defence and security signed in December 2017. The treaty takes effect only after the president ratifies it and both sides exchange notifications. The law itself enters into force the day after publication in the Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw). After the May signing, the president's entourage accused the government of not properly informing Nawrocki about the negotiations.

Railway crossings, copyright and pension debts

The road traffic amendment changes the Road Traffic Law, the Penal Code and the law on drivers of vehicles, with the stated aim of improving safety at railway crossings. The copyright amendment adjusts how creators are paid for public lending of their works by public libraries, bringing the financing mechanism in line with current market conditions. The ZUS law provides for the automatic write-off, by force of law, of unexpired contribution receivables that arose before the 1 January 1999 reform and are not secured by a mortgage. The co-production convention lets series that gain official co-production status be treated as domestic works. The government expects this to give Polish producers easier access to larger pools of funding and to support domestic film production.

Earlier signings and simplification measures

The Chancellery's notice also referred to bills signed earlier in the autumn. On 15 October the president signed an amendment to the budget-related law for 2026, which allows the subsidy to the KRUS farmers' pension fund to rise by up to 1 billion zloty. On 28 October he signed the ratification of the Hong Kong convention on the recycling of ships, which sets international rules for preventing accidents and harm to health and the environment across a ship's life cycle, from design to dismantling. Among the simplification measures, the Chancellery cited an amendment to the Commercial Companies Code, stating:

“Current rules require written form in some situations, even though communication between a company and its partners now takes place mainly digitally.”

The Chancellery also described changes to VAT rules for importers, which would remove the need to present a separate registration certificate to customs when a business uses simplified settlement rules. The status of a taxpayer could then be checked by the tax administration without involving the business.

What remains before the treaty takes effect

The signing of the five bills does not complete the treaty process. The Poland-UK agreement still requires the president's ratification and an exchange of notifications with London. Until both steps are taken, the treaty has no legal effect. The notice did not give a date for those steps. The Chancellery's communiqué and the bills show the president has moved the enabling legislation forward, and the next stage now sits with the presidential ratification and the diplomatic exchange.