Poland’s Public Procurement Office has prepared a draft amendment to the Public Procurement Law and the Act on Court Costs in Civil Cases. The proposed changes are intended to accelerate proceedings before the National Appeal Chamber, known as the KIO.
The new rules would include measures aimed at reducing the number of appeals, adjusting appeal fees, harmonising case law and clarifying provisions related to abnormally low prices. Experts agree that changes are needed, although some question whether the proposals will deliver the expected results.
“The amendment to the Public Procurement Law is fully dedicated to the area of appeals and, to some extent, inspections carried out by the President of the Public Procurement Office. Today, we are facing a major challenge related to the number of appeals filed with the National Appeal Chamber. The system has already ceased to be efficient. We can see that the large number of appeals does not significantly improve the quality of subsequent proceedings. That is why, after analysing the allegations raised, we sought to propose changes,” Agnieszka Olszewska, President of the Public Procurement Office, told Newseria.
The number of appeals submitted to the President of the National Appeal Chamber has risen significantly each year. In 2019, there were 2,695 appeals. This increased to 3,537 in 2022, 3,963 in 2023, 5,060 in 2024 and 5,986 in 2025.
According to analyses by the Public Procurement Office, the number of appeals increased by around 60% between 2021 and 2025.
“Among the challenges faced by the design and supervision sectors are lengthy procedures before the National Appeal Chamber. We wait with concern for the selection of further contractors with whom we can sign contracts for design work or begin supervision of investment projects. We can see that these procedures are becoming increasingly prolonged, which means that some of the funds Poland is due to spend on rail investments may be at risk,” says Renata Mordak, President of Egis Poland.
The average time required to forward appeals to the President of the KIO increased from around 4.4 days to approximately 15 days in 2025. At the same time, the percentage of cases examined within the statutory 15-day deadline fell sharply, from about 78% in 2023 to around 32% in 2024 and just 11% in 2025.
“We are proposing changes that have been consulted with the market. We hope they will lead to fewer appeals. We also propose increasing the appeal fees. For the basic thresholds currently in place, our proposal is to index the fees. We also want to introduce new thresholds above which the appeal fee would increase significantly,” Olszewska says.
Since 2010, appeal fees have remained unchanged despite inflation.
For supplies and services below EU thresholds, the fee is PLN 7,500. For contracts equal to or exceeding EU thresholds, it is PLN 15,000. In the case of construction works, the fee is PLN 10,000 for contracts below EU thresholds and PLN 20,000 for contracts equal to or above those thresholds.
“We are currently proposing a threshold of EUR 15 million for supplies, services and construction works, where the fee would be up to PLN 60,000. For the largest investments, above EUR 30 million, we would introduce a fee of up to PLN 150,000,” explains the President of the Public Procurement Office.
“However, this is not yet a final proposal. We are listening to the views of all stakeholders and market participants, and on that basis we may adjust the provisions to the actual needs of the public procurement system,” she adds.
The explanatory memorandum accompanying the draft amendment also identifies inconsistent KIO case law as an issue requiring legislative action. Such inconsistencies may contribute to a growing number of appeals and could discourage contractors from participating in public tenders.
“We are also proposing changes aimed at harmonising case law in disputes arising from public procurement procedures. One such proposal is for the assembly of members of the National Appeal Chamber to adopt a resolution whenever inconsistencies in case law arise,” Olszewska explains.
The draft legislation would introduce a new mechanism allowing the KIO to resolve inconsistencies in its decisions through resolutions adopted by the Chamber’s general assembly. These resolutions would have an internal character only and would serve to standardise the Chamber’s case law.
“The draft also includes a number of other improvements. These include explanatory guidance issued by the President of the Public Procurement Office. We want to create a new form of legal clarification alongside the legal opinions, interpretations and guidelines already issued. It could be issued at the request of supervisory institutions or by the President of the Office whenever such a need is identified,” says Olszewska.
“Our goal is to ensure that contracting authorities that follow such guidance do not face negative consequences when applying it. All these changes are intended to make public procurement law and purchasing processes more predictable,” she adds.
She stresses that appeals vary considerably in nature and that the proposed changes are not intended to eliminate justified appeals.
“I believe that when the National Appeal Chamber’s line of case law becomes known and predictable, appellants will be able to pursue their rights more effectively. Appeals will be justified and will contribute to improving the quality of both procurement processes and the contracts ultimately delivered,” Olszewska says.
An analysis of KIO rulings in recent years shows a growing tendency for appeals to focus more on formal issues than on the substantive correctness of contracting authorities’ actions in selecting the most advantageous offer.
“I also hope there will be fewer withdrawn appeals, which unfortunately consume resources needed to handle appeal proceedings. Today, a high proportion of appeals are withdrawn at the latest possible stage, just before the hearing. This blocks hearing rooms. For this reason, we have proposed moving to fully remote hearings,” the President of the Public Procurement Office explains.
The reform would introduce solutions intended to make it easier to schedule remote sessions and hearings by limiting the possibility of in-person participation in hearings designated as remote.
“Changes concerning the National Appeal Chamber are necessary. However, I do not believe that the changes planned in this form will produce a very significant effect. I agree that many appeals are filed simply out of a desire to challenge the process. However, we also see many cases accepted by the KIO in which offers ranked second, third or fourth are ultimately selected,” says Renata Mordak.
“This means that the initially top-ranked offers contained errors, the price may have been abnormally low, or contractors may have concealed certain information. It also shows that contracting authorities do not always have access to complete information needed to assess offers unequivocally. Only the KIO is able to assess them fully,” she adds.
The expert believes that the proposed solutions will not significantly accelerate the public procurement system.
“Errors still appear in offers that contracting authorities fail to identify. It is often competitors who uncover them, and in such cases an appeal to the KIO should absolutely remain available. Contracting authorities also make too little use of their power to reject an offer when it contains an abnormally low price,” says the President of Egis Poland.
