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Poland Decentralization

Poland Decentralization. Salwa Tobbala Yasmine Fouaad. May 25, 2011. Content. Why to Decentralize? Local and Central Institutional Arrangement Assignment of functions and responsibilities LG Elections LG Revenue & Expenditures Institutional and Technical Capacity

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Poland Decentralization

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  1. Poland Decentralization Salwa Tobbala Yasmine Fouaad May 25, 2011

  2. Content • Why to Decentralize? • Local and Central Institutional Arrangement • Assignment of functions and responsibilities • LG Elections • LG Revenue & Expenditures • Institutional and Technical Capacity • Case Study: Environment Sector

  3. 1. Why to decentralize? • 1989: Central and East European countries decided to decentralize decision making aiming for: • Democratization • economic development • and effective service delivery at the local level

  4. :2. Local and Central Institutional Arrangement • Poland created a legal environment to give Polish local governments the authority to meet responsibilities delegated by the State and their local communities Constitution 1997 : • Article 15 • (Chapter VII) L0cal Government

  5. :2. Local and Central Institutional Arrangement Constitution 1997 Article 15 1. The territorial system of the Republic of Poland shall ensure the decentralization of public power. 2. The basic territorial division of the State shall be determined by statute, allowing for the social, economic and cultural ties which ensure to the territorial units the capacity to perform their public duties.

  6. :2. Local and Central Institutional Arrangement 20 years of Local Government Development 1990: • only the gmina, i.e. the basic municipal level of government was formed • The municipal authorities obtained a substantial autonomy and a much stronger political position 1998: • Two other levels of local government were formed,the local governments have been operating on 3 levels: • 16 regions (voivodship) • 379 counties (powiat) • 2413 municipalities (gmina)

  7. STRUCTURE OF POLISH PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION state administration self-government central level Council of Ministers concentrated administration Voivoship’s Office deconcentrated administration voivodship self-government regional level concentrated administration deconcentrated administration poviat self-government (upper) local level commune self-government local level

  8. 3.Local Structure: • Gemina bodies are elected directly: • council of a commune (legislative body) • wójt / burmistrz / prezydentmiasta (executive) • Poviatbodies are: • council of a poviat(legislative) elected directly • board of poviat(executive) elected by council • Voivodshipbodies are: • Council (known as Sejmik) (legislative) elected directly • Board (executive, with Marshall as its’ head) elected by Council

  9. 4. Functions and Responsibilities: A. Commune • basic tier of local government “gemina” • water and sewage services, solid waste disposal, street cleaning, street lighting • central district heating, gas, maintenance and construction of streets and local roads • city public transportation, municipal housing • provision of education services, including primary schools • culture, including local libraries and leisure centers, some social services including services for elderly, handicapped and homeless people • physical planning, building permissions

  10. B. Poviat functions and responsibilities • second tier of local self-government • responsible for local: • secondary education, • health care1, • maintenance and construction of roads • some of social services • labor offices (from 2000), • natural disasters’ protection, • consumer protection, • land surveying

  11. C. Voivodship functions and responsibilities: • Tier of regional self-government • Dual structure of public administration (Voivodas the central government’s representation) • Superior of Deconcentratedstate administration • (e.g. State Fire Service, Veterinary Inspection, Inspection of Environment Protection) • Represent Concentrated administration (e.g. custom and taxation administration, military administration, statistic administration) • Voivodship self-government are responsible mainly of: • regional development ,economic and sustainable development • limited regional public services (higher education, specialised health services)

  12. 3. Elections of LG: • 4 Years • Political Parties were not part of LG representation prior 1997 • 1998 New LG election Law: • elections to local councils in municipalities with < 20,000 residents are won by majority • municipalities > 20,000 residents a proportional system is implemented • basic territorial unit for local council elections is the constituency (electoral district) • constituency between 500 and 3,000 residents • usually one councilor per electoral district

  13. 4. LG Revenue: • Income from taxes levied and collected including: • real estate tax, • agricultural tax, • forest tax, • inheritance • and grant tax etc. • Equalisation grant: below 85% of national average • Administrative tasks delegated by central government

  14. LG Revenues 2009 Local Revenues Transfers Grants

  15. LG Expenditures • In 1995, local expenditure reached up to 19 % of all public expenditures • In 1998, local expenditure reached up to 22 % of all public expenditures • In 2006, local expenditure reached up to 30% of all public expenditures http://www.imf.org/external/np/pp/eng/2009/072709.pdf

  16. 5. Capacity Building: • Poland’s National School of Public Administration KSAP 1990: • Main Responsibilities: • Train and prepare members of Poland’s Civil Service Corps • Prepare a cadre of higher-ranking officials in the country’s administration LG Personnel should be competent, politically neutral and capable of being held accountable to their tasks

  17. KSAP: • Criteria for KSAP students: • An open and competitive recruitment procedure • An upper age limit of 32 • Possession of a Master’s degree • The training period at KSAP is to last a minimum of 18 months • Graduates are under an obligation to take up positions in the central administration for a minimum of 5 years

  18. VI. Case study Environment Sector

  19. Legal framework • The Constitution of Poland includes a direct provision on environmental protection in Article 71. This article proclaims the citizen's right to profit from the natural environment and his duty to protect it • In 1997, Article 73 provides more detailed elaboration on the environment with division of roles and responsibilities between the state and the citizens •  Governmental Policy on Environmental Protection of 1991 aims to eliminate the communist rationale of "social interest" in the arbitrary consumption of natural resources • Nature protection in Polish environmental law encompasses the provision on the protection of landscape, parks and nature reserves as well as wildlife protection. This group of regulation is composed of the Nature Protection Act of 1991 • Environmental law in Poland encompasses the following fields of regulation: anti-pollution, nature protection, management of natural resources, procedural matters and organization, product control.

  20. Responsibilities of central government • The office of the EPM was created in 1989. • The competence of the minister comprises environmental protection, including nature protection and protection of the marine environment; the management of natural resources; water management and protection against floods; forestry and the protection of forest lands; hunting; meteorology, hydrology and geology. • So almost all environmental issues are concentrated in one central authority.

  21. Responsibilities of central government • The minister is obliged to prepare the principles of the government's environmental protection policy. He or she is entitled to participate in the financial and economic planning process. He or she is empowered to regulate the use of natural resources and to create the financial basis for environmental protection. • The minister possesses some legislative power: he or she may issue executive orders if empowered to do so by parliamentary acts. He or she is also authorized to prepare bills and drafts of executive orders for the Ministers' Council. • He or she has power to decide on the validity of the administrative decisions of regional governors; such decisions may be appealed for review to the Central Administrative Court. He or she may issue administrative instructions but these are binding only on subordinated

  22. Institutional set up

  23. Enforcement by the central Administrative court

  24. Restructure in the institutional set up Minister of Environment Environmental authority ( Directorate General for environmental protection ) State forest in 2008 ( forest = 28.9% of national territory) 18 regional ( Voivodship Directorates Regional Water Management Authorities overseeing the forest management through only the central level Environmental impact Assessment Nature conservation management Penalties for environmental damages 400 NGOs as Watch dogs at the local level

  25. Sources of revenues: • The main source of revenues is based on environmental funds: the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, the provincial, voivodship, funds for environmental protection and water management, the county, poviat, and municipal, gmina, and funds for environmental protection and water management • The Bank for Environmental Protection which cooperates with them. • They are complemented with central budget funds

  26. Resources of the fund

  27. Resources for environment 2009 – 2012

  28. Resources for environment 2013– 2016

  29. Expenditures for environment 2009-2012 − protection of the atmospheric air - 19.3 billion PLN, − water protection and water management - 36.1 billion PLN, − waste management - 6.7 billion PLN, − various environmental objectives, such as projects in the field of protection against noise and electromagnetic fields impacts, land protection, nature conservation, protection of biological diversity and landscape, environmental research and development, environmental monitoring and other sectors of environmental protection (major accidents, chemicals, biotechnology and GMOs, ionising radiation) - 4.1 billion PLN

  30. Expenditures for environment 2013-2016 It is estimated that outlays for environmental investments (2007 prices) as required to achieve the objectives of in this period, with regard to specific environmental investment clusters, will be following: • protection of the atmospheric air : 21.3 billion PLN, • water protection and water management :34.4 billion PLN, • waste management : 4.6 billion PLN. • other objectives of environmental policy: 3.2 billion PLN

  31. Technical assistance and capacity building • The Small Grants Programme (SGP) funded by the Global Environment Facility( GEF) and implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has made 372 grants to NGOs and CBOs. • The major financial allocations are to the biodiversity (69 percent) and climate change (25 percent) focal areas • There are three major clusters of SGP projects, namely nature protection (52 percent of projects),renewable and efficient energy (24 percent), and agrobiodiversity (15 percent).

  32. Technical assistance and capacity building • The SGP has been operating in the whole country, concentrating mostly on the northeastern and southern regions of Poland to build the capacity of local NGOs and CBOs • The SGP has disbursed $6.76 million in small grants, generating projects worth $33 million from different sources ( 81% public fund and 19% private resources) • This indicator illustrates the previous tables where the large portion of funds for environmental projects depends on foreign resources, private resources or public resources from different national and local established funds

  33. Conclusion • Poland has an independent financially decentralized environmental management system not heavily relying on state budget at the central level. • Paradoxically , this DEM is still administratively tied to the central level to attain full executive power at the local level

  34. Thank you for your kind attention

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