Client success story – removal of an entry from the register of excluded entities (with the possibility of applying for EU funding)

Some time ago, in connection with the covid pandemic, the legislator adopted a fund specust law. One of the provisions of this law (Article 27) stipulated that a beneficiary who could not return funds precisely because of Covid-19 would not be included on the list of entities excluded (from participation in competitions for EU funding). Unfortunately, as the example of our client showed, in practice this provision was simply violated.

Our client found itself in a difficult situation, threatened with bankruptcy, and the imposition of sanctions, such as the return of the entire grant for a project that could not be completed due to objective reasons – the Covid pandemic – and, in addition, entry in the register of entities excluded from competitions, greatly complicated the situation. This meant that the client could not participate in funding competitions for a period of three years, even if the funding was returned. Its right to not be included in the register of excluded entities was therefore unduly violated, which would impinge on the Client’s ability to continue to run projects without funding:

The court upheld the lawyers’ arguments as set out in the dossier authored by counsel Krzysztof Brysiewicz, advocate Aleksandra Bobińska and Dr Anna Kulińska. Consequently, it ordered the Minister of Finance to remove the entry from the register of excluded entities.