Managing European Regional Policy in Poland in the initial Period after Accession

Abstract
The quality of the delivery system - along with theoretical underpinnings, development strategy and the country"€™s institutional system - has a decisive influence on EU regional policy implementation. An analysis of the management system of the Integrated Regional Development Programme (IROP) shows that there are definitely more weak than strong points. The main weaknesses include: strong centralisation and "€˜red tape"€™, far exceeding the usual practices in the EU; not transparent, politically sensitive project selection and time-consuming procedures; unclear allocation of responsibility, high costs imposed on beneficiaries, low managerial skills, and, finally, conflicting solutions with existing legal distribution of powers between regional government and regional representative of the central government. Implementation effects of 2004-2005 confirm that the delivery mechanism fails to meet expectations.