The biography of Mr Adam Szejnfeld,
Member of the European Parliament

Adam Szejnfeld – Lawyer, activist in the legal and underground anti-communist “Solidarność” Trade Union in the 1980’s; imprisoned in Wronki and Gębarzewo; co-organiser of the “Solidarność” Citizens’ Committees. Entrepreneur, then active in the local government – as councillor and mayor; Vice-President of the Wielkopolska Centre for Education and Local Government Studies in Poznań.

As a Member of the lower House of the Polish Parliament (the Sejm) for five terms, he served as the Chairman of the Economy Committee, the Treasury Committee, the “Friendly State” Committee and the Committee responsible for the reduction of bureaucracy. Currently, he is a Member of the European Parliament, active in three committees: the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO), the Committee on International Trade (INTA) and the Committee on Development (DEVE). His interest lies in the economy, entrepreneurship, development and legislation.

In Donald Tusk’s government he was Deputy Minister for the Economy and also served as the Head of the Government’s Anti-Crisis Committee. Previously, he was a member of the Council of Tourism at the Ministry of Economics and a member of the Council for Labour Protection.

He is the architect of the so-called “Szejnfeld Package”, the largest set of bills in recent years deregulating Polish administration and the Polish economy. He introduced, inter alia, the presumption of honesty, the replacement of the certificate obligation with the statement obligation, the decrease in the intensity of checks on businesses, the right to suspend business, the possibility to set up a company via Internet, a reduction in administrative restrictions on economic activities, a tacit authorisation by competent authorities, reducing administrative fees, making it easier to establish commercial companies, the possibility to transform the legal form of the business activity, liability of officials, consumer bankruptcy, and public-private partnerships.

His other legislative initiatives include amending the Labour Code, introducing a flexible working relationship; reforming public procurement law, limiting price as a criterion for awarding tenders; and deregulating the professions. In total, Adam Szejnfeld’s legislative initiatives include around 50 acts amending more than 250 laws and over 1,000 articles of legislation.

He has received many awards and prizes, including from the National Chamber of Commerce, the Business Centre Club, the Polish Business Club, the Craft Association, the National Council of Trade and Services Associations, the Chief Technical Organisation, and the Hipolit Cegielski Society. He is also the recipient of numerous awards and accolades from the Polish media, including:

• In their list of “Top Ten Politicians in Poland”, a weekly news magazine Polityka ranked him “the most expert in economic affairs and one of the most expert in this area in the Polish Parliament”.
• The “Business Leader of the Parliament” Prize – receiving first place in the ranking of economic newspaper Puls Biznesu, for the best Member of Parliament dealing with economic issues.
• The “Bona Lex” Prize – awarded by a legal newspaper Gazeta Prawna nominating the law on freedom of economic activity as the best Polish law of the year.
• The “Publicus” Prize – awarded by Zamówienia Publiczne, a nationwide monthly focused on public procurement, for the “special contribution to the development and improvement of the system of public procurement law in Poland.”
• The “Wings” Prize – a prize in a nationwide poll of the Telewizja Polsat, a private broadcasting company, and the Super Express, a daily paper, for releasing Poland from bureaucracy.
• The “Man of the Year” Title – which he was awarded a dozen times by the Grupa Wydawnicza Polskapresse, a publishing company.