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Economic freedom is one of the cornerstones of Polish economic law. It is considered an essential feature of a modern market economy, without which no country can truly develop economically. What is the principle of economic freedom in reality and what does its functioning mean for individual groups of citizens?

Constitutional principle of the economic system

The principle of economic freedom is introduced into Polish law by the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 2 April 1997. For this reason, the principle of economic freedom is referred to as the constitutional principle of the economic system, which gives every citizen the right to take up and pursue economic activity. However, this is not an unlimited right. Article 20 in connection with Article 22 of the Constitution states that the limitation of the principle of economic freedom is possible, but only by way of a law and only in the case of protection of an important public interest.

What does it mean to make economic freedom a constitutional principle of the economic system? First of all, this affected the obligations of the Polish state, which are twofold, both positive and negative. A positive obligation of the state will be the necessity imposed by the Constitution to create conditions in which the principle of economic freedom can be freely implemented and continuously strengthened. As far as negative obligations are concerned, such obligations should certainly include the obligation to refrain from creating laws limiting the discussed economic odour.

Restrictions on the principle of economic freedom

As it has already been mentioned, the principle of economic freedom in special cases may be limited, which means that some citizens of the Polish state may be deprived of the possibility to conduct economic activity for some time or will not be able to conduct economic activity of a specific kind.

The temporary restriction of the principle of economic freedom under Polish law applies to, among others, persons acting as deputies, senators or e.g. councillors. This restriction results both directly from the Constitution (Article 107) and from the Act on Municipal Self-Government of 8 March 1990 and the Act on Restrictions on Conduct of Business Activities by Persons Performing Public Functions of 21 August 1997.

This limitation of the principle of economic freedom is implemented mainly on the basis of concessions and permits.