Due to the expiry of the mandates in the Sejm of the Republic of Poland of MPs Jacek Ozdoba and Krzysztof Hetman, who were elected MEPs, Rafał Romanowski and Henryk Smolarz, who took the parliamentary oath yesterday, were appointed in their place.
It is worth noting that Jacek Ozdoba will be a member of the Committee on Environmental Protection, Public Health and Food Safety in the European Parliament. In turn, Krzysztof Hetman will be a member of the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee and the Regional Development Committee.
New MPs from the agricultural industry
The new MPs do not need to be introduced to anyone interested in agriculture. Rafał Romanowski is a former deputy minister of agriculture. At the beginning of his career, he was associated with Henryk Kowalczyk. From August 2007 to November 16, 2007, he served as Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. From 2009, he worked for the commercial law company Stadnina Koni "Nowe Jankowice", among others. as a proxy. From 2009, he was also vice-president of the management board of a limited liability company called Grupa Hodowcy Koni "Cold-Blooded Horse". He served as vice-president of the board of the Association of Cold-Blood Horse Breeders (2009–2017), and then in 2018 he became a member of the board of this organization. In November 2015, he again became deputy minister of agriculture with the rank of undersecretary of state. In January 2020, he left the position of deputy minister. In March of the same year, he became the plenipotentiary of the Minister of State Assets, Jacek Sasin, for agri-food. In November 2021, he returned to the position of Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. In February 2022, he obtained the right to take up the parliamentary seat vacated by Łukasz Szumowski. In the same month, he moved to the position of secretary of state in the Ministry of Agriculture, and also became the government's plenipotentiary for shaping the agricultural system. In 2023, he unsuccessfully ran for the Sejm of the 10th term. In November of the same year, he took up the mandate of MEP of the 9th term (vacated by Zbigniew Kuźmiuk). As a result, he ended his position as deputy minister. In the European Parliament, he joined the group of European Conservatives and Reformists. He did not run in the next European elections in 2024. Now he has taken over the mandate of MP of the 10th term vacated by Jacek Ozdoba – in short, Rafał Romanowski's career is summarized on Wikipedia.
Can the functions of an MP and the director of KOWR be combined?
In turn , Henryk Smolarz is the current Director General of the National Support Center for Agriculture , who was appointed director of KOWR on January 10, 2024. As we read on the government website, he is a farmer and member of parliament of the 5th and 7th term of office of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, a manager with many years of experience in central administration , local government and business. He graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture of the Agricultural University of Lublin, where he obtained a PhD in agricultural sciences. He also completed postgraduate studies in European Union law and project management at the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin. At the beginning of his career, he became the Deputy Provincial Inspector of the Plant Health and Seed Inspectorate in Lublin. He was also, among others, vice-president of the Agricultural Market Agency, president of the Agricultural Social Insurance Fund, director of the Regional Energy Center.
Will Henryk Smolarz be able to continue as director of KOWR and combine the mandate of an MP? What we mean here is the incombinability of mandates with employment in the government administration subordinated to the Council of Ministers. Although KOWR is a state legal person and an agency, it is supervised by MRIRW. Therefore, we asked KOWR about further decisions and interpretation of regulations in this situation. We will provide you with an answer immediately.
Why should public functions not be combined with the mandate of an MP?
Quoting from the Sejm Research Office, in the study on "Legal restrictions on the public, professional and economic activities of MPs" published by the Sejm Research Office, the separation of these functions is intended to:
• ensuring personal separation of membership in parliament from holding certain positions in the highest state bodies,
• preventing conflicts of interest,
• the Member's involvement in situations that may not only call into question his personal impartiality or honesty,
• but also undermine the authority of the constitutional bodies of the state i
• weaken the confidence of voters and the public in their proper functioning.
