Self-government principles - Strict division of competences: 94 professional acts were reviewed, village councils were given all powers which they could carry out themselves - Own finances, own bank accounts, entitled to take credits - All public property serves local needs, including public land - Local government units obtained the legal entity status - The field government apparatus radically limited, abolished on the commune level, its employees were transfered to local administration - Control over communes only as far as legitimacy is concerned, communes have the right to appeal in court - Communes’ commercial activity limited to utility services

1. Marcin Święcicki,
Polish Program of Support for Local Government
Reform in Ukraine
Chernihiv, 20 April 2015

2. 1990
•2500 communes
(gmina)
1998-1999
•375 districts (powiat)
•16 provinces (voivodeships)
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3. We already have central power, now we have
to give people local power at grassroots level,
so that they become responsible for
themselves, we have to remove the old elites
(1989 – Mazowiecki)
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Local government elections in May of 1990
and in 1998 must be carried out to reformed
units, otherwise we will just fuel people’s
frustration

4. • Government plenipotentiaries for reforms, Jerzy
Regulski (1990) and Michał Kulesza (1998), were
outstanding experts, not politicians
• deputy ministers in Prime Minister’s Chancellery with a
small team of co-workers
• The plenipotentiaries ultimately prepared the reforms
and presented their proposals directly to the
Government, they enjoyed Prime Ministers’ confidence
and countered the resistance of ministries
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5. • Strict division of competences: 94 professional acts were
reviewed, village councils were given all powers which they could
carry out themselves
• Own finances, own bank accounts, entitled to take credits
• All public property serves local needs, including public land
• Local government units obtained the legal entity status
• The field government apparatus radically limited, abolished
on the commune level, its employees were transfered to
local administration
• Control over communes only as far as legitimacy is
concerned, communes have the right to appeal in court
• Communes’ commercial activity limited to utility services
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6. • Real estate and spatial planning management
• Water management (water supplies, sewage system, water
treatment etc.) and environmental protection
• Health care (financing and control over public health care units)
• Education (financing and supervision of kindergartens, schools
and other educational institutions)
• Local transport
• Social security
• Culture and sports
• Public order and security (e.g. commune guard, fire and
flood protection)
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7. • auxiliary units of communes
• 40 500 village councils, all of them are villages
• no legal status
• Competences defined by the commune statute (!)
• The village general meeting elects the village head
and coucil, passes the budget and approves the
report
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8. • Maintain village fund,
• Receive other funding, e.g. to finance purchase of materials
if they conduct some works, such as pavement laying, road
repair, school renovation
• The village head represents the council in the village, is
entitled to collect taxes and may receive small remuneration
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9. • existed since Middle Ages - dissolved in 1975
• in 1999, the network of over 300 districts was
reinstated
• The network of districts prepared by experts
• Based on capability of future counties to assume
responsibilities
• In result of public consultations additional 40 units
were created
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10. • The new administrative division: 16 provinces (voivodeships)
that replaced the former 49 units
• The provinces were created with the perspective of joining
the EU where regions are partners of Brussels and must be
capable of independent development planning and
absorption of EU funds
• Experts recommended that 11-12 provinces should be
established, 16 were result of political compromise and
concessions to satisfy local ambitions
• The provinces’ population ranges from 1,0 do 5,3 mln
people, with an area of 9,4 to 35,6 thousand square km
• Cities that lost the province status retained some province
functions and offices
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11. • In 2002 - direct elections of village heads (rural communes),
mayors (towns) and presidents (cities), which increased public
control over local authorities. Presidents and mayors may be
recalled only in a referendum.
• There were fears concerning a situation in which a
president/mayor/village head represents a different political option
than the majority in the council, but conflicts are rare
• Most village heads and mayors represent local committees which
are completely independent or loosely connected with political
parties, even some presidents of major cities win as non-party
candidates (e.g. in Krakow, Wroclaw, Katowice, Poznan until 2014)
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