Up to 80% of Contracts Hidden from Citizens?
The original vision of the long-awaited Central Register of Contracts (CRC), intended to serve as a tool for ordinary citizens to uncover irregularities in public finances, is hanging by a thread. Although a year has passed since the new government took office, we still don’t know what the system will look like. To make matters worse, over 80% of contracts may remain hidden from public view, experts from the Institute of Public Finance warn.
Transparency and openness in public finances are the cornerstones of a democratic state. The budget creation process should be entirely open, and citizens should have access to documents, budget summaries, and detailed information allowing them to assess the state of public finances.
Contract Registers: Democratic Oversight in Public Finance Management
One of the tools promoting transparency and openness in public spending is the establishment of contract registers worldwide. These registers consolidate information on all contracts signed by public institutions.
“In Poland, the Central Register of Contracts was originally planned to launch in July 2022. However, its implementation date was repeatedly postponed by the previous majority, ultimately set for January 1, 2026. If such a register were already operational in Poland, investigative journalists wouldn’t be the only ones able to trace where funds in the ‘Villa Plus’ scandal went. Every citizen could act as a watchdog, monitoring how public money is spent. These systems mobilize society, foster civic attitudes, and illustrate that the massive budgets consist of specific invoices and expenditures,” write Sławomir Dudek, president and chief economist of the Institute of Public Finance, and Marcin Grygo, junior analyst at IFP, in their latest publication.
According to IFP economists, over a year has passed since the new government assumed office, yet the system’s design remains unclear, and its implementation might still face delays.
Raising the Threshold for Disclosed Contracts
What’s more, the Ministry of Finance has decided to raise the value threshold for contracts disclosed in the register from PLN 500 to PLN 10,000 net. This decision undermines the system’s purpose, as it means many contracts won’t be included. According to IFP analyses, in medium-sized cities, only a small percentage of contracts exceed PLN 10,000. This could also open the door to abuses, such as splitting contracts into smaller amounts to avoid exceeding the threshold.
“Is this a step towards transparency or rather a nod to administrative convenience? Or perhaps an attempt to conceal a significant portion of contracts? How does this align with the promise that ‘every citizen has the right to know how the authorities spend our shared money’? The tax authorities want to monitor every entrepreneur’s invoices through the National e-Invoice System (KSeF), yet they intend to disclose only contracts above PLN 10,000 to the public,” the IFP economists point out.
Citizens Expect Full Transparency
In November last year, the Institute of Public Finance, in collaboration with the Opinion Way research agency, conducted a survey titled “Transparency of Public Finances in Poland in the Context of the Planned Launch of the Central Register of Contracts (CRC).” An overwhelming 97% of respondents believe that invoices and contracts should be fully transparent. Over half (51%) expect all contracts to be included in the register, regardless of their value. Additionally, 86% oppose the threshold proposed by the Ministry of Finance (PLN 10,000).
The survey also revealed that one in five citizens has no trust in how public finances are managed in Poland. The CRC could help rebuild this trust. However, the proposed measures risk distorting the project’s goals, delivering only an illusion of transparency, experts from the Institute of Public Finance warn.
“Clear data, strong public expectations, and international successes should motivate the authorities to act. Yet, the clock is ticking, and citizens grow increasingly impatient, asking: where is this promised transparency? We’ve already lost a year,” conclude Sławomir Dudek and Marcin Grygo.
More information is available at https://www.ifp.org.pl/projekt_IFP/takdlacru/.
