Institutionalization of the EU policy coordination system – case of Poland.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31558/2307-2318.2019.4.22Keywords:
coordination of the EU policies, Europeanization, public administration, institutionalization, European policy, EU multi-level governanceAbstract
The article is an analysis of the Polish European policy coordination system and its planned changes regarding both its institutional structure as well as its current legal and institutional development. The analysis is supported by an elaboration on the European Union’s (EU’s) general matters coordination system as one of the most important aspects of the Europeanization of EU Member States (MS). The central thesis of this article proposes that the Polish coordination system is not based on a single, clear model (although it has been influenced by certain solutions applied in different models), but rather it is inconsistent, stretched between ambitions to include European issues in the daily operations of public administration institutions and the tendency to treat European issues as a political tool. The models of coordination are briefly presented in the article. The level of efficiency of European policy coordination in Poland is briefly characterized in the article mainly considering the Metcalfe scale and the World Bank benchmarks. The article also indicates Poland's coalition potential in voting in the European Council.
The current system of co-ordination in Poland (set up by the reform of 2009) is based on dual center, namely on Committee for European Affairs, located in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and reporting to the PM as well as on Minister of Foreign Affairs (MFA). The reform of 2009 was necessary to efficiently prepare the Polish Presidency in the Council of the European Union (2011). In the system decentralization is steadily challenged by the tendency to centralize, sectoral ministries have relatively large autonomy, but are nevertheless steadily challenged by the MFA, PM, the minister responsible for European affairs (yet with weak political power as a deputy minister in MFA), finally (since 2015) by strong political leader of PiS.
The Polish coordination system is planned to be replaced by one main center in the PMO, with the MFA providing a supporting role. The strong influence of the PM in EU coordination models usually leads to centralization and better efficiency of representing policy preferences at the European level. In comparison, systems lead by the MFA are more efficient in implementing EU policies. Law and Justice – the Polish ruling party (PiS) - is planning to shift the center of the coordination system to the PMO for the purpose of centralization and easier control by the Prime Minister (or, as many analysts state, by the leader of PiS), as well as to make it more efficient. This is related not only to the fact that the position of the MFA in Poland is recently rather weak and of the PM quite strong but also to the fact that Poland has been involved in numerous conflicts with the EU institutions over the question of rule of law, which has increased necessity of involvement of politics into Poland-EU relations. However, the planned reform may deprive professional and highly-skilled public administration employees of influence on this process. It can also undermine the Polish participation in the multi-level activities of EU institutions, impeding the Europeanization. Taking into consideration the fact that Polish EU policy is rather reactive, centralizing the system and making it more politicized can bring clearer, better-grounded and stronger voice regarding Polish policy preferences in the EU. However, it can also make this voice more radically nationally-oriented than ever before.
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