Commission of the Development and Security of Artificial Intelligence under the Ministry of Digital Affairs – savings at the expense of supervisory independence?

Legislation has still not been adopted in Poland to create a national regulator for the AI market. Member States were required to do this by 2 August 2025. In Poland this role is to be fulfilled by the newly formed Commission of the Development and Security of Artificial Intelligence (“Commission”). Meanwhile, under the latest version of the draft Polish act on AI systems, the Commission administrative matters will be dealt with by the Ministry of Digital Affairs. This raises questions about the independence of the Commission as a regulator.

The main argument put forward by proponents of this solution is the saving to be made on operation of the Commission, from the initial estimate for this cost of PLN 31 million per year to approximately PLN 23 million per year for the first few years. Despite the financial advantages, there are concerns that this proposal might not guarantee independence of the Commission and officials who will act on its behalf.

The AI Act requires that national AI regulators act independently, impartially, and in a non-discriminatory fashion.  However, in this context the persons acting on behalf of the Commission will be formally employed at the Ministry of Digital Affairs. While the legislative proposal provides for creation of a new, separate department within the ministry, responsible for assisting the Commission, the independence of this personnel could be regarded as purely fictional.

Performing tasks for the Commission by the personnel employed at the Ministry of Digital Affairs could even give rise to conflicts of interest. There is also a risk of pressure being exerted of a work-related or even political nature due to the executive being too closely tied to the Commission as a regulator.

The model proposed in the draft act on the AI systems, whereby the assistance of the Commission will be provided by the personnel of the Ministry of Digital Affairs, is clearly a departure from the norm.  As use of AI systems is becoming increasingly popular, it is important to build trust in the new regulator among market players and the public, in particular by ensuring that the Commission will operate in a transparent manner and not be subject to pressure.