Aktualności

Pomerania in the Polish administrative system

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Update: 2009-11-04

Pomerania in the Polish administrative system:

• The Polish administrative system is built on three levels of local government: the gmina (commune), poviat (county ), and voivodeship (province).
  
  
  
• The commune is the smallest unit of the local government. There are urban, rural, and mixed urban/rural communes. The authority in them is vested with the commune council (or the equivalent city council), which is the legislative body. The executive function rests with the wójt (village head officer ), burmistrz (mayor), or prezydent (president ), depending on the 'gmina' size. There are 123 communes in total in the Pomorskie Voivodeship: 25 urban, 17 mixed, and 81 rural.
  
  
  
• Establishing contacts with representatives of the commune government is of paramount importance for the investors. The reason lies in the fact that land disposal decisions and local spatial environmental plans are made at this level. The commune government is also empowered to set the local economic policy. The decisions made by the commune council members determine how and where investments can be made, and what type of businesses are preferred in the area under their authority.
  
  
  
• The poviat is the second tier unit of the local government. The poviat councils play the legislative function, while the starosts they elect hold the executive powers. The Pomorskie Voivodeship is divided into 20 poviats, including four cities enjoying the poviat rights: Gdańsk, Sopot, Gdynia, and Słupsk.
  
  
  
• The poviat authorities perform some tasks of the central administration. From the investor's point of view the building supervisory functions are most vital.
  
  
  
• The local government at the voivodeship level is represented by the Voivodeship Marshal (Marszałek Województwa ) and the Marshal Office he/she heads. The Voivod (wojewoda ) represents central administration in the region. The responsibility for determining and planning the major lines of economic development in the region rests with the Voivodeship Parliament (Sejmik Wojewódzki ) (33 MPs). The executive powers are vested in a five-member Voivodeship Board (Zarząd Województwa ) chaired by the Marshal. The Voivod, in his/her capacity of the local representative of the central government, sees to safeguarding the state's rights and interests in the region. He/she is also in charge of: public safety, selected civic affairs, and representation of the central government. The role of the voivodeship is growing, which is due to such factors as e.g. Poland's accession to the European Union and the consequently implemented regional policy.
  
  
  
• After the EU accession the voivodeship local governments were put in charge of coordinating the operations connected with implementation of the EU structural funds at the regional level.