Amendments, fast-track votes, and public declarations — the past weeks around the Central Register of Contracts (CRU) have been exceptionally intense. The final outcome is clear: full transparency of public contracts has become a reality.
On December 19, the President signed the law introducing the publication of all contracts in the Central Register of Contracts — regardless of their value. This means that as of July 1, 2026, every obligated entity will be required to disclose its contracts in the CRU.
The path to this solution was not straightforward. In the Sejm, a threshold of PLN 500 was initially retained, and the Ministry of Finance proposed raising it to as much as PLN 10,000 — a move that would have kept around 70% of local government contracts out of public view. We therefore welcome the final decision by senators to eliminate the threshold entirely.
It is worth recalling that removing the threshold was one of our key demands. Research by the Institute of Public Finance and the Citizens Network Watchdog Poland shows that 97% of citizens believe contracts concluded by public institutions should be transparent, and 94% believe the Central Register of Contracts will help rebuild trust in the state. Introducing a PLN 10,000 threshold, as proposed by the Ministry of Finance, would have undermined that goal.
This outcome is the result of sustained, long-term work by civil society organizations. The “Yes to CRU” campaign, led by the Institute of Public Finance and the Citizens Network Watchdog Poland, consistently emphasized that only the absence of thresholds and full contract descriptions allow citizens to genuinely oversee how public funds are spent.
From July 1, 2026, the Central Register of Contracts will become one of the key tools for ensuring transparency in public finances. This is an important step toward building trust in the state and strengthening accountability for decisions made with public resources.
