Polish President Karol Nawrocki signs laws on banking supervision, wastewater cooling and rescue dogs

Presidential approval across three sectors

Polish President Karol Nawrocki signed three legislative amendments on 27 August 2026, approving measures that reform banking governance, introduce alternative cooling sources for power plants, and regulate search and rescue dogs in volunteer fire brigades. Presidential spokesperson Rafał Leśkiewicz announced the signings following the official communique released by the Chancellery of the President. None of the three acts faced a presidential veto or referral to the Constitutional Tribunal. All three statutes will take effect 14 days after their publication in the official Journal of Laws.

Stricter banking governance and Basel III rules

The signed amendment to the Banking Law, originally passed by parliament on 31 July 2026 under parliamentary print 2642, implements international Basel III standards alongside the European Union CRD VI and CRR III regulatory packages. Under the updated framework, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) receives expanded powers, requiring its prior consent for appointments of management board members and supervisory board chairs at the largest commercial banks, rather than solely the chief executive. The law introduces tighter capital adequacy requirements, new operational regulations for branches of third-country banks, reinforced anti-corruption provisions, and mandatory environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risk assessments. The Chancellery noted that the appointment provisions generated criticism regarding bank ownership autonomy.

The most reservations were raised by making the appointment of key positions in the largest banks conditional on prior approval from the KNF. Critics pointed out that one of the more intrusive variants of implementing European law was chosen, thereby limiting the freedom of bank owners.

Industrial wastewater cooling for energy security

The second enacted statute modifies the Water Law, based on legislation passed on 17 July 2026 under parliamentary print 2648. The regulations permit conventional power stations and combined heat and power plants to draw treated municipal wastewater for industrial cooling operations rather than relying exclusively on natural river reserves. The measure aims to maintain thermal generation capacity during seasonal drought periods when low surface river levels threaten power generation. Framed as a circular economy measure, the act defines operating conditions, permitting guidelines, and applicable fees for energy companies, while extending the compliance deadline for installing specialized measuring devices until 2030.

Legal status for volunteer rescue dogs

The third amendment updates the Act on Volunteer Fire Brigades (OSP), passed by lawmakers on 31 July 2026 under parliamentary print 2600. The legislation establishes a statutory framework for search and rescue canine units, formally incorporating volunteer dog-handler teams into the national rescue architecture. Volunteer handlers and dogs have operated in disaster zones, rubble searches, and missing-person operations for more than 30 years, deploying several hundred trained canines across hundreds of annual missions. Under the standardized regime, OSP canine teams will undergo the same certification exams and handler training programs mandated for State Fire Service (PSP) canine units, enabling routine joint deployments across agencies.

The state cannot leave an activity that has been a real element of the rescue system for years without an explicit statutory basis. The act does not create a new formation or a new type of OSP activity. It organizes the existing state of affairs and formally integrates dog-handler teams into the rescue system.