Mienkowska-Norkienė, Renata

This chapter analyzes the results of research on the successes and failures of Polish European policy in the area of Polish public administration, understood as institutions and human resources set up to implement the tasks of the state. European policy is examined here as the majority of areas in which decisions are important for Polish membership in the European Union, and the most important aspect of its implementation is its coordination within the EU institutional system. The main approaches to integration in this analysis are the community approach and intergovernmentalism, and the integration method forming the basis for research is the institutionalism of rational choice. The basis of this research is a qualitative analysis of interview results (with a standardized list of issues for comparative value and taking into account the practice of Polish public administration in the area of conducting European policy). Research results indicate the advantage of Polish policy successes in relation to its failures in the context of activities of the public administration These successes are undoubtedly: very effective negotiations on the EU’s multiannual financial framework first for 2007–2013 and then by 2014–2020, effective Polish presidency in the EU Council, many elements of Polish Eastern policy, overcoming the financial and economic crisis with participation in EU anti-crisis activities, as well as building coalitions around several issues important for Poland, which were ultimately implemented in line with the Polish interest. Among the failures, there are: decisions taken by the EU institutions in the field of environmental protection that Poland has not managed to proceed in accordance with the position presented in the European institutions, the lack of a permanent institutional and technical base for the European policy coordination system, as well as the lack of effective social consultation systems and regulatory impact assessments in this area.

This analysis covers issues related to Polish European policy in the context of the European Union crises, however – since it concerns the period 2004–2014 – it covers mainly the financial and economic crisis. The study attempts to both theoretically analyze the crisis conditions and anti-crisis policy of the Member States as well as answer research questions about the successful and unsuccessful anti-crisis measures. The contexts is here both Polish as well as European, and it refers to steps of Polish authorities to overcome the crisis. The key assumption is the significance of the lack of Poland’s membership in the eurozone for anti-crisis measures in the economic crisis, but also for the context in which the Polish government managed the crisis. At the same time, remaining outside the eurozone may turn out to be a major obstacle to Poland’s participation in the fight against the European Union’s identity crisis and its in-depth reform. The successes and failures of Polish European policy in the context of the crises show that a certain reactivity of the Polish European policy during the crisis on the one hand and awareness of the need to co-shape it at the European level put Poland among countries with great potential to shape the future of the EU. It is possible, however, only under the condition of demonstrating the political will to adopt the euro, cooperate with the largest EU countries with common currency and unified institutions, and increase administrative resources for more efficient coordination of the European policy. Setting ad hoc goals of the Polish European policy (such as the largest share in the use of structural funds) is not enough, any more, despite the fact that during the crisis it seemed to be quite an efficient strategy of Poland.

Niniejsza analiza ma na celu zbadanie sposobu postrzegania oraz oceny efektywności polskiej polityki europejskiej przez brytyjskich przedstawicieli administracji publicznej, środowiska naukowego oraz opiniotwórczego, a także przedstawicieli polskiej administracji publicznej. Perspektywa badawcza niniejszego opracowania łączy elementy ujęcia międzyrządowego oraz konstruktywistycznego. Badanie ujawnia podobieństwa i różnice w postrzeganiu efektywności polskiej polityki europejskiej przez Polaków i Brytyjczyków, wskazując jednocześnie na mocne, słabe strony, szanse i zagrożenia, jakie są widoczne w polskiej polityce europejskiej z perspektywy brytyjskiej i polskiej. Badanych jest pięć głównych wymiarów polityki: 1) aktywność i reaktywność, 2) wizja strategia, taktyka, operacjonalizacja, wdrożenie, 3) efektywność rozumiana wielorako i w różnych kontekstach, 4) znaczenie Polski i jej polityki europejskiej z perspektywy innych państw, w tym integracja regionalna, 5) Polacy za granicą w okresie członkostwa jako jeden z czynników polityki europejskiej. Analiza prowadzi do wniosku, iż w Polsce i w Wielkiej Brytanii w podobny sposób oceniana jest polska polityka europejska z racji na podobny paradygmat jej realizacji (międzyrządowy, oparty na pragmatycznej realizacji interesu narodowego), przy czym różnice dotyczą głównie kwestii istotnych z perspektywy brytyjskiej, czyli dużej liczby imigrantów z Polski w Zjednoczonym Królestwie.

The analysis concerns a very important issue in the study of European integration – the effectiveness of the implementation of Polish European policy, in particular in its specific aspect, namely in the area of presidency in the Council of the European Union. The aim of the research is to analyze the significance of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the post-Lisbon conditions and to assess this effectiveness from the Polish and European perspective (recognized as the institutions of the European Union and the Member States). The research hypothesis of this analysis is the statement that the Polish Presidency in the Council of the European Union, although not a breakthrough for any major initiative in the European integration, was recognized as a major success of Polish European policy and a significant confirmation of its high efficiency both in Poland and by representatives of other European Union countries as well as European institutions. What is important, despite the generally not very high factual assessment of the effectiveness of Polish European policy in the light of various criteria of such evaluation, the evaluation of the Polish presidency in the EU Council gives grounds for a much higher assessment of its efficiency than the entire European policy coordination system in Poland – all that despite the more difficult conditions of conducting the Presidency (from the point of view of its agenda and its course) due to the conditions of the Treaty of Lisbon. The fairly high effectiveness of the implementation of the Polish presidency (in terms of implementing its priorities, strengthening the good image of Poland – including as a dignified partner, strengthening administrative capacity) applies to all functions that the Presidency formally should fulfill, despite several significant failures, such as lack of success in the issue sealing the prospects of Ukraine’s entry into the European Union, no influence on decisions regarding the eurozone (but having influence on the entire EU), lack of significant breakthrough in energy and climate policy. In this context, however, it should not be forgotten that the Polish presidency fell on the duration of many important crises in the EU, which mitigates the bitterness of its failures and gives more space for appreciation of its successes.

The European Union has been experiencing the whole set of serious crises undermining European integration. The most important ones have been: financial and economic crisis, immigration crisis, crisis of nationalistic radicalization, Brexit, crisis of security caused by terrorism, strengthening of the Islamic State (ISIS), and destabilization of regions around Europe (mainly in the Middle East). The main thesis of this article is that all of them have weakened not only the EU as a whole but also the Member States. This has caused serious consequences being the main topics of this analysis, namely, (1) the value of solidarity lying upon the European integration concept being challenged by the crises; and (2) undermining by the crises the EU’s pursuit of achieving the competitive advantage, stated in the strategy Europe 2020. The lack of solidarity is strongly visible in the EU Member States’ differentiated attitudes towards the crises the EU has been facing. The paper will focus on analysis of solidarity in the light of intergovernmental approach supported by constructivism. The main research questions are: (1) To what extent have the EU crises strengthened the intergovernmental approach in the EU integration? (2) How has the meaning and scope of the solidarity as the main EU value changed over time in the EU’s citizens perception due to the EU crises? (3) To what extent have strong intergovernmental approach and instrumentalization of the solidarity value influenced pursuit for competitive advantage in the EU? (4) Does solidarity have a potential to contribute to efficient reform of the EU leading to strengthening its striving for competitive advantage in the future? The main research approach is intergovernmentalism while the dominating methods are a process-tracing supported by a systemic method. The main conclusion of the article is necessity for redefining the rule of solidarity in order to efficiently strive for competitive advantage.

Jūsų rankose – pirmasis Lietuvoje vadovėlis, skirtas vienam veiksmingiausių pasaulyje alternatyvių teismui ginčų sprendimo būdų– mediacijai, kuri mūsų šalyje yra pradėta taikyti neseniai. Vadovėlio autoriai užsibrėžė tikslą kompleksiškai apžvelgti mediaciją kaip socialinį reiškinį, skirtą veiksmingam visuomenėje kylančių įvairių ginčų sprendimui, aptarti mediacijos stilius, rūšis ir modelius, išnagrinėti mediacijos pamatinius principus bei taisykles, mediatoriaus vaidmenį ginčų sprendimo procese, lyginamuoju požiūriu sugretinti užsienio ir Lietuvos mediacijos atsiradimo bei vystymosi sąlygas, implementavimo į valstybių teisines sistemas ypatumus, pristatyti mediacijos taikymo specifiką skirtingose teisės šakose, sprendžiant įvairius ginčus.