12003TN12/04

4. FREE MOVEMENT OF CAPITAL

Treaty on European Union;

Treaty establishing the European Community.

1. Notwithstanding the obligations under the Treaties on which the European Union is founded, Poland may maintain in force for five years from the date of accession the rules regarding the acquisition of secondary residences laid down in the Act of 24 March 1920 on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Foreigners (Dz.U. 1996, Nr 54, poz. 245 with amendments), as amended.

Nationals of the Member States and nationals of the States which are a party to the European Economic Area Agreement and who have been legally resident in Poland for four years continuously shall not, as regards the acquisition of secondary residences, be subject to the provisions of the preceding subparagraph or to any procedures other than those to which nationals of Poland are subject.

2. Notwithstanding the obligations under the Treaties on which the European Union is founded, Poland may maintain in force for twelve years from the date of accession the rules laid down in the Act of 24 March 1920 on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Foreigners (Dz.U. 1996, Nr 54, poz. 245 with amendments) as amended, regarding the acquisition of agricultural land and forests. In no instance may nationals of the Member States or legal persons formed in accordance with the laws of another Member State be treated less favourably in respect of the acquisition of agricultural land and forests than at the date of signature of the Accession Treaty.

Nationals of another Member State or of a State which is a party to the European Economic Area Agreement who want to establish themselves as self-employed farmers and who have been legally resident and leasing land in Poland as a natural or legal person for at least three years continuously, shall not be subject to the provisions of the preceding subparagraph or to any procedures other than those to which nationals of Poland are subject as regards the purchase of agricultural land and forests from the date of accession. In the Warmińsko-Mazurskie, Pomorskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Zachodniopomorskie, Lubuskie, Dolnośląskie, Opolskie and Wielkopolskie voivodships, the residence and leasing period indicated in the preceding sentence shall extend to seven years. The lease period preceding the purchase of land shall be calculated individually for each national of a Member State who has been leasing land in Poland from the certified date of the original lease agreement. Self-employed farmers who have been leasing land not as natural but as legal persons can transfer the rights of the legal person under the lease agreement to themselves as natural persons. For calculating the lease period preceding the right to purchase, the lease period of the contracts as legal persons shall be counted. Lease agreements by natural persons can be provided with a certified date retroactively and the entire lease period of the certified contracts will be counted. There shall be no deadlines for self-employed farmers to transform their current lease contracts into contracts as natural persons or into written contracts with a certified date. The procedure to transform lease contracts shall be transparent and shall under no circumstances form a new obstacle.

A general review of these transitional measures shall be held in the third year following the date of accession. To this effect, the Commission shall submit a report to the Council. The Council may, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission, decide to shorten or terminate the transitional period indicated in the first subparagraph.

During the transitional period, Poland shall apply an authorisation procedure laid down by law which will ensure that the grant of authorisations for the acquisition of real estate in Poland is based on transparent, objective, stable and public criteria. These criteria shall be applied in a non-discriminatory manner and shall not differentiate between nationals of the Member States residing in Poland.

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