The intensification of the EU’s institutional action to ensure an appropriate level of energy efficiency demonstrates the key role of pro-saving measures and energy efficiency measures to achieve a climate-neutral economy by 2050. Achieving this goal is therefore also possible through energy performance contracting (EPC), which enables specialised entities called energy service companies (ESCOs) to operate in the market. The creation of an appropriate and favourable framework at the EU level for the use of EPCs does not imply an identical approach by all individual member states. For this reason, the domestic policy of one member state, Poland, was contrasted with the EU framework. Under the influence of the EU guidelines and regulations, the EPC legislations in Poland was amended. This provided a reason to analyse the importance of legal factors (conditions) in implementing the EPC model, especially from the perspective of public institutions. In light of the above, it was attempted to show whether legal regulations would be sufficient to increase the number and level of ESCO projects in public sector units and whether they would remove the barriers to EPC development that are seen in public–private partnerships and the impact of obligations under an energy efficiency improvement agreement on the level of government debt or public finance sector deficit. This paper adopts research methods that are typical to studying EPC topics; however, the research conducted here is theoretical (descriptive analysis) and of dogmatic legal in nature.

This study addresses the subject matter of constitutional determinants of local government units satisfying educational needs – analysed from the point of view of financing the implementation of education-related tasks. The problem of suitability of financing educational tasks through educational subsidies is discussed against the constitutional principle of independence (including financial independence) of local government. The article emphasises the question of effects in law and in fact of a situation where the financing of implementation of educational tasks is not adequate.

State social policy should take into account the subsidiary nature of assistance from public authorities in relation to the activity of the interested parties in their efforts to find and pursue work. Social assistance supports individuals and families in their efforts to meet the necessary needs and enables them to live in conditions which conform to human dignity. This aim is achieved by preventing insurmountable, difficult life situations when an individual in a crisis situation ceases to be self-sufficient. A classified form of this difficult situation is the case of individuals (families) who are on the verge of social exclusion. For it is the category of “social safety” that accommodates those allowances that are directed at individuals (families) being in a particularly difficult situation, and their function is to prevent the deprivation of needs. The group of social safety benefits singled out in this study constitutes a sub-category of social assistance benefits. Providing social safety is implemented with the use of a directory of services of different specifics, roles and functions.

Practical aspects of consumer education and also a contrario-negative effects of inaction on this matter-require further analysis due to their fundamental importance in the shaping of the actual level of legal protection of the consumer. An educated consumer, aware of his legal status, in many cases is able to defend his interests and also effectively enforce any claims he is entitled to before a court of law or under existing alternative methods of dispute resolution. Therefore, the main objective of this article is to present the role and importance of legal education of the consumer taking into account the functioning of legal clinics in Poland. Consumer rights will be presented in the general concept of the protection of human rights, with particular emphasis on the right to information-as one of the fundamental rights of the consumer. At the same time, the framework of the Polish law and the European Union law were adopted as a research perspective for these analyses.

Observing the political processes taking place in the modern European Union, one can see the anchoring of the position of the cohesion policy as one of the most important policies of the organization, and within it its growing role of “territorial cohesion”. In legal terms this is reflected even in Treaty on European Union, and clearly confirms the same meaning given to the territorial dimension as economic and social dimensions were given in previous treaties. This fact, can have a significant impact on the shaping of the future of European territorial cooperation – its priorities, benchmarks, implementation forms and purposes. Increasing importance of territorial cooperation is strictly connected with the role of the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC), which is one of the most important new instruments for its implementation.