Subsidiarity, fiscal decentralisation and financial autonomy of local and regional governments in Poland – the past and the future

Abstract

Background: Past changes in Polish local and regional governments’ financial autonomy give rise to the question whether local and regional governments in Poland still have sufficient finan­cial autonomy to perform in line with the requirements of the principle of subsidiarity. Dimen­sions of special concern are revenue as well as selected recent legislation changes’ potential future impact on Polish local and regional governments’ financial autonomy in terms of both revenue and expenditure.
 Research purpose: The main objective of the article is to reflect upon the notion of local and regional self-governance, and to critically assess the current degree of financial autonomy of local and regional governments in Poland.
 Methods: The article starts with a review of literature covering key concepts – subsidiarity, fiscal decentralisation, and local governments’ financial autonomy. Some of the approaches used to operationalise and measure financial autonomy are also highlighted and later used in the analysis and discussion.
 Conclusions: The article ends with a call for general debate on the future of local and regional governments in Poland as the past trends and expected future developments – in light of discussed legislation changes as well as the potential impacts of the covid-19 pandemic – demonstrate the gradual erosion of the local governance model, which was founded three decades ago on a prem­ise of strong financial autonomy.