DOCSLIB.ORG

Chapter 2. Towards an Integrated Rural Policy for Poland

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Chapter 2. Towards an Integrated Rural Policy for Poland 2. TOWARDS AN INTEGRATED RURAL POLICY FOR POLAND – 125 Chapter 2. Towards an integrated rural policy for Poland This chapter examines the structure and focus of Poland’s national rural polices along with the development priorities and policy interventions of regions and local governments in rural areas and the role of the European Union in structuring supports. The chapter begins with an overview of national policies for rural development in Poland and how they have changed over time – from a sole focus on agriculture towards a greater focus on rural development more broadly. Following this, key areas of rural policy are discussed: agriculture; rural economic diversification; spatial, land-use and environmental policies; infrastructure; and public services. The chapter ends with a discussion of how the aforementioned set of policies could be better integrated for more effective rural development. OECD RURAL POLICY REVIEWS: POLAND 2018 © OECD 2018 126 – 2. TOWARDS AN INTEGRATED RURAL POLICY FOR POLAND Rural Poland has undergone a considerable transformation in recent decades. Some rural regions in Poland have seen a doubling of their productivity, massive investment in infrastructure and improvement in socio-economic outcomes in a relatively short amount of time. And yet, collectively, rural regions have not been catching up over the past years in terms of average gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (see Chapter 1). GDP per capita in rural regions stood at 80% of the national average in 2014, below the OECD average of 90%. There remain considerable disparities between urban and rural areas and between rural areas within different parts of the country in terms of employment, economic growth and access to services (see Chapter 1). Further, despite support for agricultural modernisation and economic diversification, the transformation of rural areas has proceeded slowly in many cases. Rural policies are important for Poland for a number of reasons. Rural residents account for a large share of the population (approximately 40%) and the well-being of rural residents is critical to the growth and prosperity of the country. Poverty is the highest in rural areas and the highest among agricultural households and as such, there is a clear need for rural policies to support economic diversification and employment in order to help raise rural dwellers’ quality of life. Further, Poland has a polycentric settlement pattern with small and medium-sized cities dispersed throughout its territory. Stronger rural-urban linkages can result in better economic and social development outcomes and benefits for all participants. These serve as just a few examples that highlight the importance of rural policies for the country’s development. One of the most impactful events for rural development was integration with the European Union in 2004 and the role of Cohesion Policy and the Common Agricultural Policy in particular. While once focused almost entirely on agriculture, there is an increasingly multidimensional view of rural development that encompasses support for economic diversification. In equal measure, there has been a shift from a highly centralised top-down approach to policy making towards one where a broader array of actors are involved in elaborating and implementing policy, including community-based groups. Successive decentralisation reforms have been formative in promoting local community development; however, this process of decentralisation is by no means complete and moreover, silos between agricultural and rural development policies persist. Rural policy in Poland today is shaped by a web of EU, national and regional policies across the agricultural, economic, environmental, social and cultural realms that create various incentives and disincentives for rural development. As will be discussed, more could be done to align these incentives and improve the effectiveness of rural policies based on local conditions and needs. At times, contradictory policies detract from overarching aims. Positively, the national development framework adopted in 2009 enhances co-ordination of policies across ministries, including the many sectoral policies which impact rural development. However, the nature of territorially based investments is not always evident under the new approach and silos remain between how rural development is conceived across agricultural and regional development portfolios. While much has been achieved, more needs to be done to use EU funds in a strategic way that is complemented by domestic policies and interventions. This chapter examines the set of rural policy measures that are important for rural Poland across a number of policy areas. It begins with an overview of rural policies in Poland, including how they have evolved in recent decades and the types of actors at the national, regional and local/community scales. Following this, policies to support the ongoing structural change of agriculture are discussed, with an emphasis on the dual OECD RURAL POLICY REVIEWS: POLAND © OECD 2018 2. TOWARDS AN INTEGRATED RURAL POLICY FOR POLAND – 127 nature of farming in Poland (i.e. big commercial farms coexisting with a large number of small, family farms) and its implications for public policy. Next, the programmes that support economic diversification are examined, followed by land use and environmental policies and programmes for rural infrastructure development. Finally, programmes for service delivery in rural areas are discussed. The chapter ends with a reflection on how the various policies examined can be better integrated across sectors and levels of government and be geared to the needs of rural residents and their communities. Overview of policies for rural development in Poland Rural policy in Poland has evolved over the past three decades, from an initial focus of rural areas as predominantly sites of agricultural production towards recognition of them as places with a diversity of economic, cultural and environmental functions. This multidimensional view of rural economies and hence, rural policy, is increasingly recognised across OECD countries (OECD, 2016f). There remain, however, markedly different approaches to rural policy across the OECD in terms of how these ideas are instrumentalised by national and regional governments. A general delineation can be made between narrow or broad rural policies (i.e. those that are targeted versus those that are overarching in nature). • Broad rural policy refers to efforts to influence all actions that impact rural areas within and by the different administrative sectors as part of the development of rural society. This approach has been adopted in Britain since the 2000s, for example through the idea of “rural mainstreaming” (Shortall and Alston, 2016; OECD, 2011).1 It is also evident in Finland, in its cross-sectoral Rural Policy Committee. • Narrow rural policies include all measures and instruments that are specifically targeted at rural development. As discussed in Chapter 1, the ways in which rural areas are defined is therefore particularly important for the design of such interventions. There are merits and drawbacks to each approach – broad versus narrow. In aiming to integrate different sectoral policy interventions, broad rural policies may address geographies beyond just rural. Overarching approaches that combine, for example, agriculture, transport and energy policies can lose territorial focus and/or may have unintended impacts on rural dwellers. In contrast, the narrow rural policy approach can suffer from being less cross-sectoral or integrated in its interventions. The appropriateness of either approach depends in large part on the nature of rural territories (e.g. the socio-demographic characteristics of the population and the structure of local economies) and their access to goods, services and infrastructure. In places where a significant share of the rural population lives far from services and faces social and economic marginalisation, narrower rural policies are needed. Where rural populations live close to urban territories (and hence services) and have lower levels of social and economic marginalisation, broader rural policies may be more appropriate. Poland, like most OECD countries, has a greater focus on narrow rural policies, such as the national rural development programme. However, these are complemented with broader policies such as the national and regional development strategies and in operational programmes, such as the programme targeting Poland’s eastern regions which have lower economic growth, dispersed settlement patters and higher rates of poverty. Policies and institutions for rural development in Poland are heavily influenced by the OECD RURAL POLICY REVIEWS: POLAND 2018 © OECD 2018 128 – 2. TOWARDS AN INTEGRATED RURAL POLICY FOR POLAND common policies and community method of the European Union. It is important to recognise that there are also a host of policies that are often sectoral in nature that impact rural areas and that are not targeted to place, but that can have territorial consequences nonetheless. These include policies and funding for education, healthcare and social services which may have unique (and sometimes unintended) territorial consequences. A benefit of the broad rural policy approach is that it aims to create a mechanism to overcome this lack of a territorial lens within sectoral policies. The relationship between broad, narrow and sectoral policy types are depicted in Figure 2.1. While this review focuses
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Archiwum Fotograficzne Władysława Paszkowskiego Władysław
    dziedzictwo regionalne f regional heritage Antoni Oleksicki historyk historian Biuro Stołecznego Konserwatora Zabytków w Warszawie Warsaw Municipal Office for Heritage Protection Archiwum fotograficzne Władysława Paszkowskiego Władysław Paszkowski’s photographic archive Abstrakt Abstract Władysław Paszkowski przez całe swe zawodowe życie związany Władysław Paszkowski’s whole professional career was associated był z ochroną zabytków. Zaczynał w Wilnie; po przyjeździe do Polski with monument protection. He took his first steps in the area in Vil- w 1945 r. pracował w Wydziale Kultury Urzędu Wojewódzkiego w Bia- nius; following his arrival in Poland in 1945, he worked in the Cultural łymstoku, najpierw jako inspektor, później wojewódzki konserwator Department of the Voivodship Office in Białystok, first as inspector, and zabytków. Jego zaangażowaniu zawdzięcza region odbudowę najważ- later as voivodship monument conservation officer. The restoration of niejszych obiektów zabytkowych, zniszczonych w latach 1939-1944/45. major historic sites, destroyed between 1939-1944/45, was carried out Autor artykułu opisuje pasję fotograficzną Paszkowskiego, w latach thanks to his commitment. The article describes Paszkowski’s passion 1945-1972 dokumentującego substancję zabytkową na terenie ówcze- for photography, who in the period 1945-1972 documented historic snego woj. białostockiego. Ze swym aparatem Leica docierał także do fabric of the Białostockie voivodeship. Carrying his Leica camera, he odległych zakątków kraju i fotografował zniszczenia wojenne, zwłasz- also reached far-away corners of the country and took shots of war cza obiektów zabytkowych, niemal we wszystkich województwach. Do- damages, especially those of historic sites, in almost all voivodeships. kumentował też proces odbudowy i stan zabytków po przeprowadzeniu He also documented the process of reconstruction and the condition prac.
    [Show full text]
  • FAMILY FARM the Next Generation
    FAMILY FARM The Next Generation © AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ESTATE PLANNING ATTORNEYS, INC. Family Farm: The Next Generation 1 INTRODUCTION A humorous take on how families pass on businesses, such as family farms, is reflected in this quip: Avenge your children; give them equal shares in your business. Certainly, what can seem like a generous, wonderful thing can be rife with conflict and imbalance, if you don’t take steps to implement the appropriate legal framework. Landowners, ranchers, and farmers face unique challenges surrounding how to preserve the family farm; a symbol of their heritage. This report focuses on the legal and management issues of managing the family farm, and steps you can take to ensure the smooth transition from generation to generation with ease and accuracy. PLANNING IS KEY Whether your family is running a farm, managing a large parcel of land, or operating a chain of feed stores, transitions in stock ownership — either through death, retirement, divorce, or just the desire to sell one’s shares — can cause turmoil in the family. But harmony can be maintained, and many difficult family business circumstances can be anticipated and planned for, if everyone agrees in advance how situations will be handled. The key word, however, in this statement is: advance. As with most situations, being prepared ahead of time means the difference between getting it right and seeing it with hindsight. For this purpose there are buy-sell agreements, which are basically contracts that specify certain rights among the owners of a family business. Sometimes a buy-sell agreement is incorporated into a Living Trust, other times it is a separate document.
    [Show full text]
  • The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth As a Political Space: Its Unity and Complexity*
    Chapter 8 The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as a Political Space: Its Unity and Complexity* Satoshi Koyama Introduction The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Rzeczpospolita) was one of the largest states in early modern Europe. In the second half of the sixteenth century, after the union of Lublin (1569), the Polish-Lithuanian state covered an area of 815,000 square kilometres. It attained its greatest extent (990,000 square kilometres) in the first half of the seventeenth century. On the European continent there were only two larger countries than Poland-Lithuania: the Grand Duchy of Moscow (c.5,400,000 square kilometres) and the European territories of the Ottoman Empire (840,000 square kilometres). Therefore the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was the largest country in Latin-Christian Europe in the early modern period (Wyczański 1973: 17–8). In this paper I discuss the internal diversity of the Commonwealth in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and consider how such a huge territorial complex was politically organised and integrated. * This paper is a part of the results of the research which is grant-aided by the ‘Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research’ program of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science in 2005–2007. - 137 - SATOSHI KOYAMA 1. The Internal Diversity of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Poland-Lithuania before the union of Lublin was a typical example of a composite monarchy in early modern Europe. ‘Composite state’ is the term used by H. G. Koenigsberger, who argued that most states in early modern Europe had been ‘composite states, including more than one country under the sovereignty of one ruler’ (Koenigsberger, 1978: 202).
    [Show full text]
  • Pomorskie Voivodeship Development Strategy 2020
    Annex no. 1 to Resolution no. 458/XXII/12 Of the Sejmik of Pomorskie Voivodeship of 24th September 2012 on adoption of Pomorskie Voivodeship Development Strategy 2020 Pomorskie Voivodeship Development Strategy 2020 GDAŃSK 2012 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. OUTPUT SITUATION ………………………………………………………… 6 II. SCENARIOS AND VISION OF DEVELOPMENT ………………………… 18 THE PRINCIPLES OF STRATEGY AND ROLE OF THE SELF- III. 24 GOVERNMENT OF THE VOIVODESHIP ………..………………………… IV. CHALLENGES AND OBJECTIVES …………………………………………… 28 V. IMPLEMENTATION SYSTEM ………………………………………………… 65 3 4 The shape of the Pomorskie Voivodeship Development Strategy 2020 is determined by 8 assumptions: 1. The strategy is a tool for creating development targeting available financial and regulatory instruments. 2. The strategy covers only those issues on which the Self-Government of Pomorskie Voivodeship and its partners in the region have a real impact. 3. The strategy does not include purely local issues unless there is a close relationship between the local needs and potentials of the region and regional interest, or when the local deficits significantly restrict the development opportunities. 4. The strategy does not focus on issues of a routine character, belonging to the realm of the current operation and performing the duties and responsibilities of legal entities operating in the region. 5. The strategy is selective and focused on defining the objectives and courses of action reflecting the strategic choices made. 6. The strategy sets targets amenable to verification and establishment of commitments to specific actions and effects. 7. The strategy outlines the criteria for identifying projects forming part of its implementation. 8. The strategy takes into account the specific conditions for development of different parts of the voivodeship, indicating that not all development challenges are the same everywhere in their nature and seriousness.
    [Show full text]
  • Choices and Constraints in the Pre-Industrial Countryside
    Choices and Constraints in the Pre-Industrial Countryside Sheilagh Ogilvie Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge [email protected] CWPESH no. 1 Plenary Lecture for Population, Economy and Welfare, c. 1200 – 2000: a Conference in Honour of Richard Smith , Cambridge, 16 September 2011 Abstract : This paper explores a key implication of Richard Smith’s work on agrarian societies: the need to be attentive both to rural people’s decisions as economic agents and to the constraints on their choices. It begins by examining evidence of goal- maximizing behaviour by rural people – not just peasant farmers but women, servants, serfs, landless workers, youths, and many others – in a diversity of pre-industrial societies. It then analyses some central constraints within which rural people made their choices: family and inheritance systems, village communities, manorial systems, legal rules and customs, and the actions of rulers. It concludes by discussing the implications of these findings for understanding the functioning of rural economies, now widely recognized as central to long-term improvements in economic growth and human well-being. 1 1. Introduction This paper explores a central implication of Richard Smith’s work on agrarian societies: the need to be attentive both to rural people’s decisions as economic agents and to the constraints on those choices. As early as 1979, Smith pointed out that although people in the pre-modern English countryside made individualistic choices, ‘This does not necessarily require us to approach this society with a purely voluntaristic model of social behaviour for we have to define the structural limits within which people interacted’.
    [Show full text]
  • Judicial Approaches to Resolving Dissension Among Owners of the Family Farm
    University of Arkansas [email protected] ∙ (479) 575-7646 An Agricultural Law Research Article Judicial Approaches to Resolving Dissension Among Owners of the Family Farm by Steven C. Bahls Originally published in NEBRASKA LAW REVIEW 73 NEB. L. REV. 14 (1994) www.NationalAgLawCenter.org Steven C. Bahls* Judicial Approaches to Resolving Dissension Among Owners of the Family Farm TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction........................................... 15 II. Attributes of Family-Owned Farms. .................... 16 A. Public Policy Favoring Preservation of Family Farms............................................. 16 B. Structure of the Family Farm 18 III. The Problem of Dissension Among Owners of Family Farms................................................. 20 A. Causes of Dissension. .............................. 20 B. Difficulty in Resolving Dissension in Family Farm Businesses ......................................... 23 IV. Legislative and Judicial Approaches to Resolving Dissension Among Owners of the Family Farm . 29 A. The Montana Trilogy of Cases ...................... 30 B. Cases from Other Jurisdictions. .................... 33 C. Legislative Approaches............................. 37 V. Proposed Judicial Standard for Resolving Dissension Among the Owners of the Family Farm 38 A. Dissension in Farm Corporations . 39 1. Threshold Standards for Judicial Intervention. 39 B. Dissension in Farm Partnerships and Farm Limited Liability Companies. ............................... 45 VI. Conclusion............................................. 47 Copyright held by the NEBRASKA LAw REVIEW. * Associate Dean and Professor, The University of Montana School of Law; B.B.A., 1976, University of Iowa; J.D., 1979, Northwestern University. The author is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Agricultural Law Association. The author wishes to thank Rodney K. Smith, Dean ofthe University ofMontana School of Law, and James T. Towe, The University of Montana School of Law, Class of 1994, for their assistance with this article.
    [Show full text]
  • Changes in the Polish Agriculture in the Light of the Cap Implementation
    MAREK WIGIER 10.5604/00441600.1151760 Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics – National Research Institute Warsaw CHANGES IN THE POLISH AGRICULTURE IN THE LIGHT OF THE CAP IMPLEMENTATION Abstract Agricultural policy in Poland supports the functioning of numerous types of agricultural models, including the following models: traditional, industrial, environmental, induced development and sustainable growth. The CAP objectives and mechanisms, as well as individual character- istics of the Polish agriculture indicate that in the long run the devel- opment pattern should be based on a dual model. Certain farms, while maintaining the basic requirements of environmental protection, should implement production methods ensuring high economic viability (indus- trial agriculture); other farms should base their development on more eco-friendly methods, which enable the use of environmental, social and cultural assets at hand (sustainable agriculture). This paper defines the most important development stages of global agriculture, indicates the connection between the necessity of state’s intervention policy and sustainable development, presents selected characteristics of the Polish agriculture with an analysis of the most important effects of implementing the CAP and illustrates the conclusions concerning the shape of the future long-term agricultural policy in Poland. Model of development of world agriculture Over the centuries, the most important task of agriculture was the production of food. This goal marked the development strategies of the whole food economy, which evolved from a peasant to farm-enterprise model (Fig. 1). Agriculture was the primary source of income and the most important work place in the rural areas. Industrialisation, mechanisation of production and the market mechanism trans- formed this situation.
    [Show full text]
  • Development Prospects of Tourist Passenger Shipping in the Polish Part of the Vistula Lagoon
    sustainability Article Development Prospects of Tourist Passenger Shipping in the Polish Part of the Vistula Lagoon Krystian Puzdrakiewicz * and Marcin Połom * Division of Regional Development, Faculty of Oceanography and Geography, University of Gda´nsk, 80-309 Gda´nsk,Poland * Correspondence: [email protected] (K.P.); [email protected] (M.P.) Abstract: The Vistula Lagoon is a cross-border area with high natural values and a developing market of tourist services. Passenger shipping is an important part of local tourism, but ship owners are insufficiently involved in planning processes and their views on creating shipping development are underrepresented. The article aims to compare the vision of the development of passenger shipping in the Polish part of the Vistula Lagoon between local governments creating the spatial policy and ship owners offering transport services. We have made an attempt to verify the development prospects. The collation of these visions was based primarily on the qualitative analysis of the content of planning and strategic documents (desk research method) and a survey conducted among all six ship owners. Thanks to the comparative analysis, it was possible to show similarities and differences and to indicate recommendations. The paper presents review of the available literature on the subject, thanks to which the research area was identified as unique in Europe. On the one hand, it is a valuable natural area, which is an important tourist destination, on the other hand, there are organizational and infrastructural limitations in meeting the needs of tourists. Then, field research was conducted, unpublished materials were collected, and surveys were conducted with the Citation: Puzdrakiewicz, K.; Połom, M.
    [Show full text]
  • Samorząd Terytorialny W Pigułce System Samorządu W Polsce • GŁÓWNA MISJA: Planowanie I Wspieranie Rozwoju Regionu M.In
    Samorząd terytorialny w pigułce System samorządu w Polsce • GŁÓWNA MISJA: planowanie i wspieranie rozwoju regionu m.in. poprzez wykorzystanie funduszy Województwo europejskich • ORGANY: sejmik województwa (wybieralny, zarząd województwa z marszałkiem na czele • GŁÓWNA MISJA: zapewnienie usług publicznych, których skala przekracza możliwości gminy, np. ochrona zdrowia, szkoły ponadgimnazjalne, Powiat bezpieczeństwo publiczne • ORGANY: rada powiatu (wybieralna), zarząd powiatu ze starostą na czele • GŁÓWNA MISJA: zapewnienie podstawowych usług publicznych – samorząd „pierwszego kontaktu” Gmina • ORGANY: rada gminy i wójt, burmistrz, prezydent miasta (organy wybieralne) Na czym polega Gmina jako podstawowa jednostka samorządu terytorialnego odpowiada za wszystkie misja gminy? sprawy o zasięgu lokalnym, które – zgodnie z założeniami ustawy o samorządzie > gminnym – mogą się przysłużyć „zaspokojeniu zbiorowych potrzeb wspólnoty”. Nawet jeśli prawo wyraźnie nie nakazuje gminom podejmowania określonych działań czy rozwiązywania konkretnych problemów, władze gminy nie mogą tego traktować jako wymówki dla swojej bierności. Gmina powinna aktywnie rozwiązywać problemy mieszkańców! Zgodnie z art. 1 ust. 1 ustawy o samorządzie gminnym oraz art. 16 ust. 1 Konstytucji RP mieszkańcy gminy tworzą z mocy prawa wspólnotę samorządową. Celem działań podejmowanych przez gminę powinno być zaspokajanie konkretnych potrzeb danej wspólnoty samorządowej. Na czym polega Powiat został utworzony, aby zarządzać usługami publicznymi, z którymi nie misja powiatu? poradziłyby sobie gminy, szczególnie mniejsze. Dlatego też powiat ponosi > odpowiedzialność za zarządzanie szpitalami, prowadzenie szkół ponadgimnazjalnych, urzędów pracy czy sprawy geodezji. Warto przy tym pamiętać, że wszystkie szczeble samorządu są od siebie niezależne, i tak np. powiat nie jest nadrzędny w stosunku do gmin. Na czym polega Najważniejszym zadaniem województwa jest wspieranie rozwoju całego regionu. misja województwa? W tym celu sejmik przyjmuje strategie opisujące plany rozwoju województwa.
    [Show full text]
  • The Agricultural Sector in Poland and Romania and Its Performance Under the EU-Influence
    Arbeitshefte aus dem Otto-Strammer-Zentrum Nr. 21 Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, 2013 The Agricultural Sector in Poland and Romania and its Performance under the EU-Influence Von Simone Drost März 2013 CONTENT 1INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................... 6 2THE CHARACTER OF THE EU’S CAP: AN EVOLUTIONARY APPROACH....................................7 2.1The early CAP: From preventing food shortage to producing surpluses........................................................7 2.2Failed attempts of reform and years of immobility...............................................................................................8 2.3The MacSharry reform of 1991/92: Introducing fundamental structural changes...................................8 2.4Agenda 2000........................................................................................................................................................................8 2.5The 2003 reform: Fischler II..........................................................................................................................................9 2.62008 CAP Health Check....................................................................................................................................................9 2.72010 to 2013: Europe 2020 and the CAP................................................................................................................10 2.8Conclusion: Developing
    [Show full text]
  • IV SA/Wa 558/07 - Judgment of the Regional Administrative Court in Warsaw LEX No 460565 Judgment of the Regional Administrative Court in Warsaw of 8 November 2007
    IV SA/Wa 558/07 - Judgment of the Regional Administrative Court in Warsaw LEX No 460565 Judgment of the Regional Administrative Court in Warsaw of 8 November 2007. IV SA/Wa 558/07 THESIS (current) A resolution of the regional council concerning the spatial development plan of the voivodship is not an act of local law and thus does not have any direct legal effect. Since the resolution is not universally binding, it does not interfere with the applicants' proprietary rights with respect to the plots of land through which the planned road route is to run. It is only at the stage of the planning work and adoption of the local spatial development plan that the applicants will be able to raise such an objection. JUSTIFICATION Chairperson: WSA Judge Małgorzata Miron. WSA Judges: Alina Balicka (spr.), Assessor Marta Laskowska. Protokolant: Dominik Nowak. Sentence The Regional Administrative Court in Warsaw, having examined on the hearing on 8 November 2007 the case of Elżbieta K. and Janusz K. against the resolution No. 65/2004 of the Regional Assembly of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship of 7 June 2004 on adopting the Spatial Development Plan for the Mazowieckie Voivodeship - dismisses the complaint. Factual reasons By Resolution No. 65/2004 of 7 June 2004, the Regional Assembly of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship acting on the basis of Article 18 point 3 of the Act of 5 June 1998 on regional self- government (Journal of Laws 2001 No. 142, item 1510 as amended) in connection with Article 85 point 2 of the Act of 27 March 2003 on spatial planning and development (Journal of Laws No.
    [Show full text]
  • The Debt Crisis in Poland and Its Impact on Society
    Gavin Rae ABSTRACT This paper considers the question of public debt and how it impacts upon other areas of socio-economic life in Poland, in the context of the recent global economic crisis. It begins by placing Poland’s public debt in its historical context that reaches back to the Communist period. One result of the large debt incurred during this time, was that Poland became indebted and dependent upon creditors in the West. This dependency helped to shape its neo-liberal economic policy from the late 1980s. This has resulted in a large deactivation of labour that has placed a huge burden on the country’s public finances. Furthermore, the creation of a compulsory private pension system at the end of the 1990s, sucked large amounts of money out of the government’s budget and swelled the country’s public debt. Since the outbreak of the economic crisis, Poland has avoided a recession through increasing public investment by utilising available EU funds. However, due to internal and external limits on the size of its public debt, the government is being pressured to reduce this spending that threatens to suppress growth and further increase unemployment. In order to create more fiscal room, the government has partly dismantled the compulsory private pension system, which has temporarily reduced public debt. Poland already has high levels of poverty and social exclusion, with large sections of society inadequately supported with social benefits and services. Any further reduction in public and social spending could have serious negative consequences for large sections of society. 2 Public Debt in Poland CONTENTS 1.
    [Show full text]