115
Szewczak, M. (2012). The System of Management of Regional Development in 
Poland: New Legal and Administrative Proposals. 
Uprava/Administration X(2), 115–121.
The System of Management of 
Regional Development in Poland: New 
Legal and Administrative Proposals
UDK: 332.14(438)(045)
Marcin Szewczak
John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin
Faculty of Law, Canon Law and Administration
szewczak@kul.pl
AbstrACt
This paper describes the new proposal being advanced regarding the legal and 
administrative aspects of regional development in Poland, presenting a small-
scale survey of part of the legal system as it pertains to regional development. 
It outlines the new legal proposal for implementation with regard to the 
preparation of solutions necessary for the next programming period (2014–
2020). The results of the analysis suggest that the solutions proposed may be 
effective and may contribute to improving the system.
Key words: regional development, management of regional development, regional 
territorial forum, cohesion policy, EU regional policy
JEL: 
1 Introduction
the most important entities charged with implementing regional development 
policy in Poland are the state (central government) and local government at 
the województwa (provincial) level; these are the entities mainly responsible 
for the level of development of the regions. On behalf of central government, 
the entity responsible for the particular shape of national regional 
development policy is the Ministry of regional Development. Under the 
relevant act of 6 December 2006, the minister coordinates implementation 
of the national development strategy. Despite the fact that the act has now 
been in force for five years, there are numerous aspects that still need to 
be regulated; a number have been proposed for implementation as a step 
towards the preparation of solutions necessary for the next programming 
period, which is 2014–2020. this paper provides a preliminary analysis of 
the activities mentioned above. Of course, it is too early to come to firm 
1.04 Professional article

116
Administration, Vol. X, No. 2/1012
Marcin Szewczak
conclusions regarding the effectiveness of these measures, but it is a good 
time for discussion and reflection.
2 Legal foundations of regional development in Poland
Research into the concept of the region has been conducted in various fields 
of science, including economics, political science, law, sociology and spatial 
development. The term »region« is used in both everyday language and by 
specialists (Kokocińska, 2009, p.13). Most European countries have regions 
whose level of economic development (and consequently standard of living) 
are lower than that of the leading European Union Member States. As far as 
regional policy is concerned, it can be noted that it is characterised by the 
specific directions fostered by the political and structural concepts of the EU 
– therefore, regional policy activities focus on a single region, area or Member 
State (Kukliński, 2003, pp. 5–14). Each region is free to broaden or limit 
the support and intervention of the Funds, and to change their character. 
Individual regional development instruments should complement each other 
(Głąbicka & Grewiński, 2004, p. 33).
The key document relating to the implementation of EU cohesion policy 
in Poland between 2007 and 2013 is the Act of 6 December 2006, laying 
down the principles of conduct of development policy. According to this 
act, state development policy is determined by development strategies 
and subsequently implemented by specific operational programmes and 
implementation plans. The 2007–2015 National Development Strategy (NDS) 
is the principal long-term strategic document defining the goals and priorities 
of Poland’s social and economic development, and the conditions aimed at 
securing the development objectives. The strategy defines objectives and 
identifies those areas recognised as being of greatest importance in achieving 
these aims; the activities of the state will be concentrated on those areas. The 
major role of the NDS is to coordinate institutional and regulatory reforms 
with the activities financed by EU Funds so that, through synergy, these two 
areas produce the best possible pro-development effects. The main goal of 
the NDS is to increase the level and quality of life of Polish citizens, residents 
and families, which means an increase in household income and easier access 
to education and training, which leads to an improvement in society’s level 
of education and citizens’ skills and qualifications, as well as an increase in 
employment and productivity, resulting in lower rates of unemployment, a 
rise in the level of professional activity and improvements to health (NDS, p. 
29).
The National Strategic Reference Framework 2007–2013 (NSRF) (NSRF, p. 
22) is a document designed to aid implementation of EU cohesion policy in 
Poland. NSRFs have to be drawn up in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) 
No 1083/2006 of 11 July 2006. The preparation of NSRFs and their approval 
by the European Commission are necessary prerequisites for Commission 

117
Uprava, letnik X, št. 2/1012
The System of Management of Regional Development in Poland: 
New Legal and Administrative Proposals
approval of operational programmes and, as a result, for the allocation of 
resources from structural funds. The NSRF specifies the priorities, areas of 
activity and methods of implementation of EU Funds in Poland by determining, 
among other things, the number of operational programmes and the level 
of funds allocated for their implementation. Since the Act laying down the 
principles of conduct of development policy has been in force without major 
changes for several years, it has become necessary to introduce a number 
of amendments. The forthcoming new programming period in the European 
Union has, to some extent, accelerated the process.
3 Improvements to the regional development management 
system – an analysis of amendments to the law
Individual solutions introduced by amendments to the law have been the 
result of decisions taken by the Council of Ministers and, in particular, the 
adoption, on 13 July 2010, of the National Regional Development Strategy 
2010–2020 – Regions, Cities, Rural Areas (NRDS). The NRDS is the first of nine 
so-called »integrated strategies« and it outlines the directions to be taken by 
systemic changes and institutional transformations aimed at increasing the 
efficiency and effectiveness of regional policy and other public policies with 
an impact on development processes in territorial systems. In adopting the 
NRDS, the Council of Ministers brought forward numerous innovative solutions 
aimed at streamlining the management and conduct of regional policy and 
concerning its programming system, implementation and monitoring. Some 
of the amendments aim at improving or eliminating those acts that have 
not been implemented for reasons relating to procedure or content. The 
amendments proposed in the draft pertain to regulation of the institutional 
system and systematisation of the strategic activities undertaken at both the 
central and regional levels by entities involved in the management of national 
development processes, including those units involved in the implementation 
of structural funds and the Cohesion Fund (Project, p. 1).
A new development management system assumes the coexistence of various 
kinds of strategic document. The basic documents include a medium- and 
long-term national development strategy, as well as other strategies that 
implement and relate to the areas and fields indicated in the medium-term 
strategy. The introduction of an additional document category, that of the 
»long-term policy« (Article 1 item 2 of the draft) is designed to fill the gap 
that has appeared in the strategic document system between strategies 
for developing areas indicated in the medium-term national development 
strategy and the programmes that implement particular solutions. Chapter 
2a, newly introduced into the act in Article 1 item 7 of the draft, defines long-
term policies as those documents that facilitate the coordination of activities 
undertaken and implemented by a minister within their area of responsibility; 
they should refer to a specific sector or an area of social and economic life 
indicated in the development strategies. Therefore, long-term policies do 

118
Administration, Vol. X, No. 2/1012
Marcin Szewczak
not introduce additional development goals but, instead, specify the way 
in which the goals determined in the strategies should be implemented. 
At the same time, they are not implementation documents in the way that 
programmes are: the policies are designed to act as tools for ministers to 
help them coordinate activities within the scope of their remit. To ensure the 
cohesion of strategic programming, the long-term policies will, similarly to 
strategies and programmes, be evaluated as far as their compatibility with 
the development goals indicated in the medium-term national development 
strategy are concerned (Project, p. 1).
The most important instrument determining the common objectives 
identified for a particular territory and coordinating pro-development 
activities undertaken by central and local government is the territorial contract 
referred to in the NRDS. The territorial contract has been introduced into the 
act in Article 1 items 3a and 10 of the draft. It changes the method used to 
determine national and regional development activities that has been in place 
so far and had been based on a »provincial contract«. The territorial contract 
is not an agreement that transfers financial resources – it only indicates 
commonly identified development goals, the methods employed to achieve 
them, the sources of financing (state funds, EU funds and local government 
funds, including funds from provinces, powiaty [counties/districts] and 
gminy [towns/rural communities]), and the conditions necessary for realising 
development activities in the region (e.g. activities at the national level). 
Such a territorial contract should include activities realised at the national 
level (by particular departments indicated in the territorial contract) and at 
the regional level (activities conducted by various units of local government, 
namely the province, county/district and town/rural community). At the 
national level, the Council of Ministers is represented by the minister in charge 
of regional development, who signs the territorial contract on behalf of the 
Council of Ministers and after consultation with respective ministers. Local 
government (i.e. the government of the province, county/district and town/
rural community) is represented by an assembly, or by assemblies of provinces 
in cases where the territorial contract extends across the area of more than 
one province. This solution is aimed at facilitating a proper assessment of 
territorial potentials and identifying tasks for the implementation of regional 
policy objectives in the form of a contract, where the parties involved include 
different public entities (i.e. they do not include central and provincial 
government alone, as was in the case with the »provincial contract«).
Another solution aimed at facilitating coordination and increasing the 
effectiveness of implementation of development activities is the Integrated 
Regional Framework Programme (IRFP), introduced into the act in Article 1 
items 3b and 11 of the draft. The IRFP describes the method to be employed 
to coordinate and integrate activities conducted by various public entities 
for a particular region within the framework of different instruments at the 
regional level. Therefore, according to the law, the IRFP is not a programme 

119
Uprava, letnik X, št. 2/1012
The System of Management of Regional Development in Poland: 
New Legal and Administrative Proposals
as such (it is neither an operational programme, nor a development 
programme), but is designed to define areas in which intervention is needed 
and to describe the expected results and the tools necessary to conduct this 
intervention, the financial resources and the sources of financing of activities, 
regulations concerning the coordination of activities within the framework 
of particular instruments (programmes), and the entities responsible for the 
implementation of individual tasks (e.g. different units of local government). 
While the territorial contract describes activities at both the national and 
regional levels that have an impact on the territory defined in the contract, 
the IRFP refers to activities undertaken at the regional level (Project, p. 2).
As a result of the introduction of the territorial contract and the Integrated 
Regional Framework Programme, a number of amendments to some of the 
regulations of the Provincial Government Act have been proposed. Since both 
the territorial contract and the IRFP are designed to support implementation 
of the pro-development activities defined in the Provincial Development 
Strategy, amendments to Article 11 paragraph 3 of the Provincial Government 
Act (Article 2 item 1b) have been suggested in which both instruments are 
indicated as implementing the provincial development strategy. 
At the same time, the competences of a provincial assembly defined in 
Article 18 of the Provincial Government Act have been broadened to include 
adoption of the Integrated Regional Framework Programme (Article 2 item 
3 of the draft). The tasks of the provincial assembly laid down in Article 41 
paragraph 2 of the Provincial Government Act have also been expanded 
to include preparation of the Integrated Regional Framework Programme 
(Article 2 item 4 of the draft).
As a result of the introduction of the territorial contract, an amendment 
to Article 42 paragraph 1 of the Local Government Revenues Act has been 
proposed (Article 3 of the draft). This amendment will allow local government 
units to obtain funds from the central government budget to subsidise 
priority enterprises included in this contract (Project, p. 3).
The results of research and analysis, as well as the conclusions drawn from 
the implementation of European Union Funds, indicate many weaknesses 
resulting from the sector-by-sector approach taken to the programming 
and realisation of support, a lack of cooperation between sectors and levels, 
and insufficient access to specific information and data for the strategic 
management of development. This leads to problems in defining the 
development goals, particularly in the regional system, a lack of cohesion in 
the way the policies are implemented, and insufficient coordination of the 
programming and implementation levels. If development policy is to be 
conducted efficiently and effectively, the strategic aspect of development 
policy must be strengthened, among other things, by the establishment of 
an institutionalised space for the exchange of information, knowledge and 
experience. This space would be the site of an ongoing strategic discussion 

120
Administration, Vol. X, No. 2/1012
Marcin Szewczak
aimed at determining the best possible framework for public intervention 
within the context of EU cohesion policy, regional policy and the territorially 
directed sectoral policies that make up development policy, as well as the 
most effective ways of using their influence to change internal and external 
conditions. In order to do that, a new Chapter 5a has been added to Article 1 
item 15 of the draft. This chapter (»Institutional Service of Development Policy« 
in the act laying down the principles of development policy) describes how 
consultative and advisory bodies are established within the support system 
of strategic thinking, including a State Territorial Forum (STF) at the national 
level (Ministry of Regional Development) and its counterparts at the regional 
level (at provincial assemblies), called Regional Territorial Forums (RTFs). The 
STF is a forum that facilitates the exchange of experience and good practice 
between all parties involved in work on development at the national level; the 
main goal of the RTFs is to establish common ground for cooperation and for 
the coordination of processes relating to the implementation of provincial 
development policy, with the participation of those units of provincial 
government responsible for that policy and the major entities involved in 
its implementation. The STF will stimulate and shape strategic thinking on 
development at the national level, while the RTFs will achieve this at the 
regional level. The purpose of the STF and RTFs is to increase the effectiveness 
of the process of spatial planning and the implementation of public tasks. This 
form of intraregional cooperation serves to determine common goals and 
to reconcile disparate sectoral and territorial interests. A further important 
role of these bodies is to increase the real possibility for the coordination of 
development processes at both the national and regional levels in, among 
other things, the process of the implementation of the territorial contract 
(Project, p. 3).
4 Conclusion
The new solutions described above and aimed at streamlining the development 
management system in Poland are solutions currently undergoing both public 
and interdepartmental consultation. The indications are that the solutions 
proposed may be effective and may contribute to improving the system. 
Nevertheless, it is likely that the effects of these changes will not be felt for 
a number of years.
Marcin Szewczak – Biograpy

121
Uprava, letnik X, št. 2/1012
The System of Management of Regional Development in Poland: 
New Legal and Administrative Proposals
References
• Głąbicka K. & Grewiński, M. (2004). Europejska polityka… [European Policy…]. 
Warsaw.
• Kokocińska K. (2009). Polityka regionalna w Polsce i w Unii Europejskiej 
[Regional Policy in Poland and the European Union]. Poznań.
• Kukliński A. (2003). O nowym modelu polityki regionalnej – artykuł dyskusyjny 
[On the New Model of Regional Policy – A Discussion Article]. Studia 
Regionalne i Lokalne [Regional and Local Studies] 4(14)/2003, 5–14.
• NDS. National Development Strategy 2007–2013. Warsaw: Ministry of Regional 
Development.
• NSRF (2007). National Strategic Reference Framework 2007–2013. Warszawa: 
Ministry of Regional Development.
• Project (2011). Justification of the Project of the Amendment to the Act Laying 
Down the Principles of Conduct of Development Policy. Warsaw: Ministry of 
Regional Development.