The Administrative State in Poland Before and After the European Union Accession

Abstract

The article identifies and describes the fundamental dimensions and elements of the Polish administrative state before and after the accession of Poland to the European Union, beginning with the critical question of how to preserve the status of a state in a supra-state organization. The authors explain the essence of the European Union, or Europeanization, in the field of Polish administration and administrative law. Analysis of the Europeanization of Polish administrative law is focused on its basic aspects grouped under six headings: sources, cooperation, paradigm (constitutionalization), administrative democracy, scope and depth, and outcomes. Separate attention is given to the notion of public administration, as the widely applied definition of the concept framed by Jan Boć became obsolete after accession to the European Union and required transformation and extension. With language being a key feature of public administration, the text points to the post-accession impact of the English language on Polish administration and administrative law. The article concludes with outcomes of Europeanization on the gestalt of the administrative state in Poland. The general outcome stresses that Polish administration and administrative law operate not only within the context of the Polish state and Polish law, but increasingly within a supra-state European administrative framework and European legal space and European public law.