Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 15th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview Main Conference Theme Author(s) Anna Kostrzewa Office of the Committee for European Integration Warsaw Poland Title Public leadership and management changes in Poland – the European Union assistance. File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Abstract Due to the recent history of Poland, a majority of academic or public discussions concerning modernization, transformation and administrative development are automatically associated with preparations for, and membership of Poland in the European Union (EU). Significant for the accession process arrangements appears to be assistance of the EU in the area of Institution Building (IB) directed to Poland in the framework of Phare programme. Therefore, also leadership and management change in the public administration shall be analyzed against the background of contribution provided by the EU especially in terms of standards, procedures and values it has promoted through the projects in the field of IB. Despite the ongoing process of unification and standardization of solutions in public administration, a particular EU model of leadership and management in the said area can not be recognized yet. Member states have preserved their own mechanisms deeply rooted in their institutional and political systems, history or culture. However, next to the concept of sovereignty and subsidiarity principle one can also mention the notion of Europeanization, which can be referred to complicated nature of relations between leadership and management in public administration. The principal objective of the research was to examine the impact of the IB Phare projects on transformation of the former, and creation of a new model of managerial leadership in Polish public administration. What were the aims, instruments and mechanisms utilized by the EU in order to enhance prompt but at the same time well balanced changes of management in the sphere of public administration. Where the outcomes are best pronounced? A thorough analysis of the Phare IB projects implemented in Poland between 1998 – 2006 can be summarized by emphasizing that qualitative changes as to the management and leadership were achieved due to several factors. First, through determining a specific scope of projects and directing them to particular addressees placed in public institutions. Second, with use of certain structure created for projects, for instance by including Twinning components. It is argued that the most vivid manifestations of changes were present in relation to top management of agencies created for implementation of the EU pre-accession and structural funds. Strict and demanding procedures of accreditation and operation of agencies required a high level of managerial capabilities which had to be combined with political loyalty to the government. Phare IB projects carried out in public institutions introduced new and modern patterns of management, exchange of information, reporting and evaluation. Rigorous schedules and other provisions of projects extorted a managerial rather than political approach in order to reach the objectives. As an example a post of the Senior Project Officer may serve, filled by high rank officials: secretaries or undersecretaries of state whose background was political. They held overall financial and managerial responsibility of projects. Leadership and management relations in Polish public administration constituting a crucial element of its functioning reflect national conditions and as such are still subject to ongoing transformation. Simultaneously, the EU membership assisted by the Phare IB projects implementation has been a significant incentive and stimulus for introducing changes convergent with modern and more general global tendencies and directions in this sphere.
