Nawrocki's veto for nothing? Czarzasty: There will be a vote on the act on cryptoassets

Marshal of the Sejm Włodzimierz Czarzasty announced that on Friday there will be a vote to reject the presidential veto to the act on the crypto-assets market. He also said that at the next session the Sejm will deal with another veto regarding the so-called Chain Act.

On Monday, the KPRP announced its veto to the act on the crypto-assets market, the provisions of which, according to President Karol Nawrocki, threaten Poles' freedoms, their property and the stability of the state. At Wednesday's press conference, the Marshal of the Sejm announced that the president's motion would be assigned a form number and would be forwarded to the appropriate committee. According to information from the parliamentary website, the application was sent to the parliamentary public finance committee.

– Tomorrow we will vote on the presidential veto on cryptocurrencies – Czarzasty told journalists before the evening Seniors' Convention.

– The president appealed to me to deal with his motions, so we will deal with one veto tomorrow and another in two weeks – added the marshal.

Czarzasty also said that the vote on rejecting the veto to the bill on the crypto-assets market will take place after the closed part of the session, during which Prime Minister Donald Tusk will present information on state security to the Sejm. The Chamber will consider the motion of the head of government at 9. – Of course, there will be a debate, so it takes some time – he said.

The second presidential veto, the rejection of which MPs are to vote on at the next session of the Sejm, concerns the amendment to the Animal Protection Act, i.e. the so-called Chain Act. The president's request on this matter was sent to the extraordinary parliamentary committee for animal protection.

President Nawrocki vetoing the so-called Chain Act, he stated that the intention is noble, but the amendment is poorly written and creates new problems – in this context, he talked about the standards regarding playpens defined therein. The president announced that he would submit his own project regarding, among others: keeping dogs on leashes, which “will allow dogs to be released from chains.” This project – which prohibits keeping pets on a leash and introduces the obligation to provide animals with adequate shelter from weather conditions – was submitted to the Sejm on Tuesday.

The Parliament passed the amendment to the Animal Protection Act at the end of September. 280 MPs voted in favor of its adoption, 105 were against and 30 abstained. Among the PiS club, 49 MPs voted for the amendment, including the party's head, Jarosław Kaczyński.

The vetoed regulations introduced the definition of a kennel – a place where a dog is kept in a limited space outside a residential premises and from which an untied dog cannot leave on its own, located in a fenced or unfenced area.

The amendment also provided for an exemption from the ban on keeping dogs on tethers – only outside the dog's permanent residence. It would be possible, among others: keeping the dog on a leash or tying it up for a walk, transport or for a short time under specific conditions indicated by the owner – in a way that does not harm the animal's well-being (e.g. while shopping).

However, the purpose of the bill on the crypto-assets market vetoed by the president – passed by the Sejm on November 7 this year. – is, among others, introduction of the EU MiCA regulation (The Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation). Pursuant to the act, supervision over the crypto-assets market would be exercised by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, equipped with appropriate supervisory and control tools. Some obligations of issuers of asset-linked tokens and e-money tokens, as well as crypto-asset service providers, have been clarified.

In the event of a violation of the regulations, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority could make entries in its register of unfair Internet domains used to conduct activities in the field of cryptoassets. This would protect customers and the market against dishonest entities. The act was to introduce criminal liability for crimes committed, among others, in connection with the issuance of tokens or the provision of crypto-asset services without prior notification to the Polish Financial Supervision Authority.

The perpetrators of the most serious violations would be threatened with, among others: a fine of up to PLN 10 million. The vetoed provisions also provide for the regulation of online currency exchange offices – they were also to be supervised by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority. Pursuant to the Act, online currency exchange offices were to maintain individual payment accounts for their clients, which was to enable, among others, protect customers' money and allow them to use it at any time.

In practice, a veto means a request from the president for the MPs to reconsider a given bill. The Sejm may reject the president's veto by adopting the bill again with a 3/5 majority of votes in the presence of at least half of the statutory number of deputies – in the maximum variant, assuming that all deputies take part in the vote, this means that it is necessary to collect 276 votes to reject the veto. (PAP)

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