Civil society and democratic consolidation in Poland : ENGOs and the programming of EU funds

Abstract

Poland and the other post-communist EU Member States are benefiting from large amounts of financial aid through the Cohesion and Structural Funds. This aid is implemented by national and regional governments in accordance with EU legislation. The "Partnership Principle" is such legislation and states the importance of a horisontal implementation of these funds, listening to local governments, civil society, economic partners etc.

This masterthesis is a case study of how the partnership principle is working out in practice, to what extent environmental non-govenmental organisations (ENGOs) in Poland are able to represent a civil societal dimension within the Cohesion Fund. The good and bad practices observed are discussed in the context of democratic consolidation literature arguing that after democratic transition, the democratic "fine-tuning" commences. My conclusion is that Poland is still in such a fine-tuning phase.