The Government Legislation Centre has published a draft law on civil protection and states of emergency. It assumes higher benefits for citizens affected by natural disasters and the abolition of the Government Security Centre.

According to the draft, the Prime Minister will be responsible for civil protection in Poland, and in urgent cases, the Minister of Internal Affairs will assume responsibility. The Government Crisis Management Team, which currently has an advisory and consultative function, will operate under the Prime Minister. However, after the changes, this team is to initiate and coordinate civil protection activities and assess the development of the emergency situation.

The draft also provides for an increased role for the Minister of the Interior in the field of civil protection. For the purposes of his new tasks in the field of civil protection, including alerting on threats and providing information services to the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, a State Duty Service will be established at the Ministry of Interior and Administration. There will be no Government Security Centre, which, in the opinion of the drafters, does not meet the expectations in terms of crisis management.

In line with the announcements, the benefits paid to victims of natural disasters will be increased – from PLN 6,000 to PLN 10,000, as well as support for house reconstruction from PLN 200,000 to PLN 300,000.

The proposed regulation will enable the introduction of two states of heightened alert – state of alert or state of emergency. A state of alert, as a lower state, will be introduced by the minister of internal affairs or the voivode for a period not longer than 30 days. A state of emergency will be introduced by the Prime Minister if the state of alert proves insufficient and additional measures and restrictions are needed. There is also a state of natural disaster in the bill, the regulations related to it are based on the provisions of the current law.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński