Five times as much for civil defense. The Civic Coalition is introducing its own bill

As emphasized at the Kropiwnicki conference, the project was prepared by experts, firefighters with the participation of people from the civil protection community and – as he added – “it responds to the real problems of Poland at the time of environmental disasters, natural disasters and problems that the Poles closest to where they live.” “This is a project that should support local authorities in their most important activities, i.e. supporting residents and protecting people where they live” – ​​said Kropiwnicki, pointing out that this is a different project of the KO from the one proposed by the government. The deputy emphasized that at critical moments people gather around the local government, because they are people they know and have the opportunity to offer support. “We believe that only a decentralized system that supports local governments in strengthening civil defense will ensure that people in situations like COVID-19, such as natural and environmental disasters, will find help,” he said. “We are restoring the entire civil defense mechanism, we are strengthening the volunteer fire brigade system so that it is effective and supporting people in emergencies,” Kropiwnicki said.

Szymański, who will represent the applicants, emphasized that the KO draft fills a legal gap after the Homeland Defense Act was passed in March, and it concerns the provisions on civil protection. He also added that his formation’s proposal decentralized the entire aid system. “It is the head of the town, the president, the staroste and the marshal of the voivodeship who know how to protect their territory, what the critical infrastructure looks like, what the shelter system looks like and the hiding system,” said the representative of the KO.

Szymański indicated that the project will allocate 0.5 percent. GDP for securing the health, life and property of civilians, while the Civil Protection Fund announced by the government provides 0.1 percent for this purpose. GDP.

The government has an idea

Importantly, quite recently, on June 14, the then Deputy Prime Minister and the head of the Security Committee, Jarosław Kaczyński, together with the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration, Mariusz Kamiński, and the deputy head of the Ministry of the Interior, Affairs and The Government, Maciej Wąsik, presented the principles of the draft law on civil protection and natural disasters. The draft was adopted by the Committee of the Council of Ministers for National Security and Defence. The procedures and tools contained therein should enable effective and rapid response and protect and assist victims of various types of emergencies.

Kamiński stressed that the draft law was a very important addition to the law on the defense of the homeland, which had already been passed by the parliament, and said that the draft had been discussed several times in the security committee. On the other hand, Kaczyński stressed that “the dangers characteristic of the current, extremely difficult time” have been taken into account when drafting the bill. “I mean everything that happens right next to the Polish border, in Ukraine. This has happened before on the Polish border, I’m talking about the border with Belarus,” he said.

Does the project developed by KO stand a chance of acceptance? In real terms – and not just through the prism of parliamentary arithmetic – they are small, not to say nearly zero. First, the bill drafted by the Ministry of the Interior and Administration – the contents of which we officially do not know until now – is a priority for the Ministry today, which no one will ever give up. Secondly, the political support of Jarosław Kaczyński – who was given publicly during the press conference – undoubtedly, although he is no longer a member of the government, is undoubtedly also one of the important factors determining the implementation of the new regulations. Perhaps, however (although the Ministry of the Interior and Administration will not be willing to make concessions to the foundations of what was presented last week), the Ministry will be able to listen to the voice of the opposition as it works on the law. on civil protection and the state of natural disasters. The deputy head of the Ministry of Interior and Administration, Maciej Wąsik, has already assured several times that the law is “alive” and that the government is ready to work on its shape and consider all comments submitted to it. to take.

At present, the document is awaiting inclusion in the government’s list of legislative works and, as announced, the bill will most likely be submitted to the Sejm shortly after the summer break. The law should be passed before the end of the year.