The aim of this study was to present monetary benefits from social welfare in terms of the jurisprudence of administrative courts. The analysis of this case law confirms that the granting of obligatory monetary benefits – which are the subject of this part of the article -– such as the permanent allowance and the periodic allowance, depends on the fulfilment of positive conditions, with no negative circumstances at the same time. The latter, depending on their nature, are or may be considered leading or may lead to the conclusion that the provision of the benefit is or may be contrary to the principles and objectives of social welfare, including the principle of subsidiarity. Providing monetary benefits from social welfare, including – which should be emphasized – also obligatory benefits, requires not only the fulfilment of positive conditions, but also confirmation that the provision of assistance will be consistent with the principles and objectives of social welfare, including the pr – as it is noted in the judicature – including determining whether the person concerned undertakes actions aimed at improving their situation, actively cooperating in this respect with the social welfare body, or whether they only expect support. Each person – before asking for help – is first and foremost obliged to fully use their own powers, resources and possibilities to overcome a difficult life situation, and if they do not fulfil this obligation, then – as confirmed by the jurisprudence – there is no basic condition for providing such a person with assistance from public funds. One of the basic goals set out in the Act on social assistance is the activation of beneficiaries and making them independent. Social assistance is only of a temporary nature and assumes the development of appropriate attitudes among its users. It cannot, under any circumstances, turn into a permanent and unique source of income for people applying for it. A negative settlement of the application of a person applying for social assistance benefits does not have to mean a violation of the general principles of granting assistance, and may only prove that, in a specific case, there are no grounds for the applicant to exercise the rights provided for in the Act. The purpose of social assistance is to provide support, not to replace individual efforts to improve the living situation of a specific person. Permanent allowance and periodic allowance referred to in this study fulfil this function.
In the article an attempt was made to present the assumptions of Polish legislative solutions concerning e-health in the context of one of the basic principles of European philosophical and legal thought – the principle of subsidiarity. The principle of subsidiarity, the essence of which is to leave it to the political communities to carry out tasks for which they can take responsibility, has been incorporated into the legislation of nation states and the European Union, determiningthe identity of European civilisation. Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the preamble to the Constitution of the Republic of Poland are an example of the translation of the subsidiarity principle into legal norms. Attention has been paid to the possibility of decentralising and delegating competences to lower levels of public authority in the field of health, using or amending the e-health legislation accordingly. Appropriate division of tasks and competences in the area of health care, taking into account the subsidiarity principle, can be observed at both national and EU level. European Union law recognises the autonomy of the Member States to define national health regulations. On the basis of selected national and EU regulations, a definition of e-health has been proposed, understood as a set of provisions within the health care system regulating the collection, processing of data and provision of health care services in order to identify and optimise the satisfaction of individual and collective health needs as well as to pursue an effective health policy by public authorities. The basic assumptions of key national and EU legal acts are also indicated. On the basis of the solutions adopted in the Act on Health Care Services Financed from Public Funds, the formal possibility of delegating and effective performance of tasks has been demonstrated in the field of health protection by local government units. New information and communication technologies provide the basis for a more complete implementation of the subsidiarity principle in health protection, as they enable the necessary knowledge on the collective and individual health needs at European, national and any other expected level – regional, population, age to be gathered and transferred. They are a tool, previously unavailable, for the precise identification of the needs of separated communities. On the other hand, new technologies can be a tool for communities to meet these needs to the extent that they are able to provide organisational and financial security. The combination of new information and communication technologies with the application of a systematic concept of tasks implementation based on the principle of subsidiarity will allow for a change in the model of health care in Poland.
Over the last few decades, the work of palliative and hospice centers in Poland and in the majority of highly developed countries has been evolving in the direction of specialized institutions providing assistance to persons in the terminal stage of cancer. They are part of the country's healthcare system and meet all the criteria of health care institutions. The principle of subsidiarity is the basis for promoting social hospices, and to a large extent, they use the natural capital of civic initiatives and pro-social attitudes. It also influences removing barriers between healthy and sick people, especially those who are dying. The article presents the results of own research among people who are closest to the hospice's charges. Respondents point to existing ways of their influencing the social environment that can contribute to mature attitudes towards suffering and death, such as cooperation among various institutions, scientific and publishing activities, education through mass media, educating school youth, as well as the promotion of palliative care.
PL
Działalność ośrodków paliatywno-hospicyjnych w Polsce i w większości krajów wysoko rozwiniętych już od dekady ewoluuje w stronę wyspecjalizowanych placówek świadczących pomoc osobom w terminalnej fazie choroby nowotworowej. Stanowią one część systemu opieki zdrowotnej danego kraju, spełniając wszystkie kryteria zakładów opieki leczniczej. Zasada pomocniczości stanowi podstawę do promocji społecznych hospicjów, w znacznym stopniu korzystając z naturalnego kapitału inicjatyw obywatelskich i postaw prospołecznych. Wpływa ona również na usuwanie barier między zdrowymi i chorymi, a szczególnie umierającymi. Artykuł przedstawia wyniki badań własnych wśród osób stanowiących najbliższe otoczenie podopiecznych hospicjum. Respondenci wskazują na istniejące sposoby oddziaływania na środowisko społeczne, które mogą przyczynić się do dojrzałych postaw wobec cierpienia i śmierci – współpraca z różnorodnymi instytucjami, działalność naukowa i wydawnicza, edukacja w środkach masowego przekazu, wychowanie młodzieży szkolnej, a także promocja opieki paliatywnej.
The paper examines the concept of social rights from both the analytical and philosophical perspective. In the first part of the paper a distinction is made between social rights in the strict sense (called in the paper “Type 1 social rights”), which can be decomposed into the Hohfeldian incidents, and social rights which resemble norm-goals and therefore cannot be decomposed into the Hohfeldian incidents (these rights are called in the paper “Type 2 social rights”). It is argued that even though Type 1 social rights are rights in the strict sense, they exhibit certain idiosyncrasies distinguishing them from “classical” rights, among which the most striking idiosyncrasy is their double correlation to duties. The second, philosophical part presents various ways in which social rights can be justified. A special emphasis is laid on the justification appealing to the concept of autonomy. Some standard criticisms of social rights are also evaluated.
The article attempts to give a comprehensive analysis of the first application of the so called yellow card mechanism provided for in the Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality and introduced by the Lisbon Treaty. The special focus is given to three issues: the quality of the EC explanatory memorandum, the differences in the scope of national parliaments’ reasoned opinions and the legal basis of the proposed regulation, which was the factor that motivates parliaments and determines the EC’s decision. The author suggests that these three aspects in the case of the proposal for Monti II Regulation confirm opinions formulated earlier in the literature, that the procedure for subsidiarity scrutiny can have significant legal and political implications.
The Polish Constitution does not provide for the existence of regional parliaments with legislative competences in Poland. The chambers of the Polish Parliament are therefore not obliged to hold consultations under Article 6 of the Protocol on the Application of the Principles of Subsidiarity and Proportionality. However, members of self-governing representative bodies are members of the EU’s Committee of the Regions, which can bring an action before the Court of Justice of the EU for violation of the principle of subsidiarity by an EU act and can also take a position on the compliance of EU action with the principle of subsidiarity as an advisory body.
The granting of non-cash benefits within the social welfare system, in particular care services and specialist care services, as well as services in the form of placement in a social welfare home has repeatedly been the subject of interest of administrative courts. The analysis of the judicial practice of these courts leads to the conclusion that the award of the services in question is based on the principle of subsidiarity. This principle plays a key role here. It is respected both at the stage of granting these benefits and their use by authorized persons. The case law used in this study confirms that the indicated services can only be awarded to persons who meet the requirements set out in the Law. The common element here is the inability to satisfy one's own efforts through the inability to use the help of people from the immediate environment, especially the family, which may result from various reasons. The indicated principle is also taken into account at the stage of using the services. It manifests itself, among others. in determining by the authority, the type, scope and form of assistance provided. In practice, this means that the subjective feelings of the person concerned, as well as their expectations do not affect the decision of the institution, which obviously is guided by the individual needs of the person, however determined objectively, while also taking into account the general principles and objectives of social assistance, such as also its ability to provide help. The subsidiarity principle is also reflected in the need to pay for services (as well as in the use of exemptions). Those using the services are primarily required to make this payment. The liability of other entities is exceptional, which also complies with the subsidiarity principle.
Zasada pomocniczości (nazywana również zasadą subsydiarności) jest jedną z podstawowych reguł prowadzenia polityki gospodarczej w UE. Zgodnie z nią uprawnienia w zakresie polityki powinny być delegowane na możliwie najniższy szczebel władzy, tj. najbliżej obywateli, których dana polityka dotyczy, chyba że istnieją niezaprzeczalne korzyści prowadzenia jej na wyzszym szczeblu. Celem opracowania jest spojrzenie przez pryzmat teorii federalizmu fiskalnego i ekonomii politycznej na praktyczne stosowanie zasady pomocniczości w wybranych kluczowych dziedzinach polityki UE, tj. w polityce rolnej, spójności, w zakresie nauki, technologii i innowacji, a także w polityce dotyczącej edukacji i usług. Różnice pomiędzy istniejącym a pożądanym w świetle teorii zakresem stosowania zasady pomocniczości pokazują, że w UE w niektórych dziedzinach zakres wspólnych regulacji wykracza poza wspomnianą zasadę, zaś w innych mogłoby być możliwe osiągnięcie większych korzyści przy prowadzeniu ściślejszej koordynacji polityki. Podział kompetencji pomiędzy kraje członkowskie a instytucje UE jest ostatecznie decyzją polityczną, która powstaje w warunkach konfliktu interesów. Analizy ekonomiczne mogą jedynie dostarczać argumentów za lub przeciw centralizacji polityki.
EN
The subsidiarity principle is one of major rules of conducting the EU’s economic policy. In conformity to the rule empowerment within the policy should be delegated to the lowest possible level of authority, i.e. as close as possible to the citizens who the set policy concerns unless there exist undeniable advantages of conducting it on higher level. The objective of the research paper is to discuss the practical application of the subsidiarity principle in key areas of the EU’s policy through the prism of the theory of fiscal federalism and political economics. The EU’s policy areas under review regard agricultural policy, cohesion policy, technology and innovation as well as educational policy and services. The differences between the applied and theoretically desired scope of the subsidiarity principle application indicate that in the EU there are some areas in which the scope of joint regulations reaches beyond this principle. On the other hand, there exist some areas where reaching more advantages could be possible provided the policy conducted is better coordinated. The division of competencies between member countries and the EU’s institutions is eventually a political decision that is arising in the context of conflicting interests. Economic analyses might only provide arguments for or against centralisation of the policy.
Purpose of the article is to show how public services can be outsourced from communities and what legal, organizational or other limitations may have to be taken into account.Methodology used for this article is literature research, analysis and comparison. An in-depth look into the present status of research and literature will be interconnected to the basic research in this matter that has been done from the 1970's to the 1990's.Scientific aim is to show the potential of the process as being important and helpful in creating better community-service and meanwhile relieve the communities from organizational and financial burdens that are more difficult to carry than ever before.Findings are that we have to determine between the different municipal economic activities and the legal basis of these activities. The intervening public-service is a prominent example for the restrictive regulatory system it is set in but also is seen as having a big potential for cooperation and outsourcing by contracting-out. Contrary to that the service-rendering public-service is less regulated and more open to a market approach.There are different spheres for these economic activities to take place. Different reasons for outsourcing depend on the specific sphere a certain task belongs to and can include economic, fiscal and political aspects. Two big groups of tasks are annex-tasks from within the public-service and characteristic public-services. There can be outsourcing by commissioning or by using submissions.With different legal forms of the outsourced entities and the legal limits that are set for every different kind of structure, it is clear that there is no solution that always fits all the needs and that this has to be carefully taken into account.Conclusions are that there is a high potential and big successes when outsourcing is done well planned and as a strategic activity. A number of legal issues and other limitations always has to be respected.
The dispute over the division of powers and the burden of competence presumption between the European Union and its Member States has been going on practically from the very beginning of the integration process and has become an immanent part of the political system of the EU and of the decision-making process functioning within its framework. One of the most important steps to clarify this issue was the introduction of the principle of subsidiarity, which clearly indicated the mode in which institutions of the EU could exercise specific powers when shaping public policies. Another step was the inclusion of national parliaments in the process of safeguarding compliance with this principle, which was related to the ongoing debate on the reduction of the so-called “democratic deficit”, that occurs during public policy-making processes in the EU. From a purely theoretical point of view, one could conclude that the inclusion of national parliaments in the creation of public policies at such an important stage should be equivalent to offering them vast opportunities to influence the decision-making process within the framework of the political system in the EU. Moreover, after Poland’s accession to the EU, our national parliament has become a legitimate user and beneficiary of these regulations. It is thus fully justified to ask the question about the actual efficacy of the existing solutions and the possible direction in which national parliaments will evolve in the process of integration. Having this in mind, the authors of the study set themselves several fundamental research objectives. The first is to assess the extent to which the Parliament of the Republic of Poland is prepared and able to use the procedure for monitoring compliance with the principle of subsidiarity. The second, and equally important, research goal concerns the identification of the actual influence of national parliaments on public policy-making processes within the EU political system through the procedure for safeguarding compliance with the principle of subsidiarity. It is also the intention of the authors to identify the possible direction in which the position of national parliaments will evolve in the EU decision-making processes.
The aim of this article is to analyse the mainstream trends in the most recent case law of the Constitutional Tribunal (TK) and the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) in matters concerning own and commissioned tasks performed by local government. Preliminary research has shown that the current activity of TK and NSA in the field of local government tasks is focused primarily on the legal basis for performing these tasks and on their financing. The content of the law cases selected for the analysis indicates that the TK as well as the NSA case law fully support the idea of local government, including the principle of self-reliance and decentralisation in terms of carrying out tasks. This is evident in the example of the legal basis for the performance of tasks (including the legal nature of the performance contract) and the principle of self-reliance of the local government units.
PL
Celem artykułu jest wyodrębnienie i analiza głównych nurtów w najnowszym orzecznictwie Trybunału Konstytucyjnego i Naczelnego Sądu Administracyjnego w sprawach dotyczących zadań własnych i zleconych wykonywanych przez jednostki samorządu terytorialnego. Badania wstępne wykazały, że ostatnia aktywność TK oraz NSA w zakresie zadań samorządu terytorialnego skupia się przede wszystkim na wątkach z zakresu podstawy prawnej do wykonywania zadań (zarówno własnych, jak i zleconych) oraz z zakresu finansowania tych zadań. Treść wyodrębnionych spraw wskazuje na to, że linia orzecznicza TK i NSA wspierała w pełni w ostatnich latach ideę samorządności, w tym zasadę samodzielności i decentralizacji w aspekcie realizacji zadań publicznych. Widać to wyraźnie na przykładzie rozważań dotyczących podstawy prawnej do wykonywania zadań (w tym charakteru prawnego porozumienia o wykonywaniu zadań zleconych) oraz zasady samodzielności finansowej jednostki samorządu terytorialnego.
On 11th of October 2011 the European Commission (EC) announced draft of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on Common European Sales Law (Regulation). This is a result of works on harmonization of European private law, especially contract law, lasting for a long time. Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR), Green Paper from the Commission on policy options for progress towards a European Contracts Law for Consumers and Businesses and drawn up by the Expert Group Feasibility Study (last version dated on 19th of August 2011) are considered as the main stages in the harmonization of European contract law process. Finally, the European Commission decided to limit the scope of draft of the Regulation presented last year to B2C and certain B2B cross-border transactions within the European Union. This means that the scope of current EC proposal significantly differs in particularly from DCFR , which encompassed not only almost all contract law relations, but also non-contractual liability. Consequently, such a ‘narrow’ scope of the EC proposal as well as its binding force may rise some doubts. Nevertheless, there are also more concerns against the background of draft of the Regulation. First of all, the legal basis of the proposed Regulation can rise significant objections. To this extend EC indicated art. 114 the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which is deemed as a basis of all actions undertaken within the scope of harmonization of EU law. On the other hand, art. 114 of TFEU is considered only as a basis of harmonization leading to internal market establishing and development. At this moment first doubt as regards to discussed EC proposal can be faced. Equally important concerns can rise on the basis of proportionality and subsidiarity principles. Against the background of consistency EC proposal with these two main principles of EU law a few important doubts can be seen. Unfortunately, the justification of EC accompanying the announcement of draft of the Regulation does not dispel mentioned concerns. All features mentioned above result the need of re-analyzing EC proposal, in particular from the perspective of treaty basis and main principles of EU law. Moreover, in the line of proposed Regulation, its rules should be interpreted autonomously and without any recourses to legal systems of member states. This causes another concerns, because it is difficult to imagine, especially by such narrow scope of applicability, that EC project can by use independently. Even more, this interpretation and applicability rules will be lead to many conflicts with the law of member states. Since the project is still in consultation phase, issues mentioned above are worth to re-thinking which will be served the avoidance of serious problems when the EC proposal will come into force.
The common agricultural policy (CAP) is considered to be the oldest EU policy and one that covers such a vast range of issues that it leaves almost no room for Member States’ policy in this field. Yet the recent consecutive reforms which base their rationale on the common truth that “one-size-does-not-fit all” give more and more room for Member States to make their own choices. Thus, both a theoretical and an empirical question can be posed: what is the optimal solution for the EU and its citizens (acting both as consumers and taxpayers) when it comes to shaping agricultural policy? Should it be an EU policy or should it be left to Member States or even to their regions? This paper presents an answer to the question posed in the title. The answer is based on the theory of fiscal federalism and environmental federalism as well as practical issues relating to the functioning of EU agriculture based on a literature review. The results show that there is room for activity by both the EU and the Member States when it comes to agricultural policy. The optimal division of tasks between the EU and Member States, based on the subsidiarity principle, shows that EU policy should focus on safeguarding the competitiveness of EU agriculture and fair competition on the EU common market, while Member States should concentrate on fine-tuning EU policy instruments to the specific needs of their agriculture.
PL
Wspólna polityka rolna (WPR) jest uważana za najstarszą politykę Unii Europejskiej. Jednocześnie obejmuje tak szeroki zakres zagadnień, że prawie nie pozostawia miejsca dla polityki państw członkowskich w tej dziedzinie. Jednak ostatnie reformy opierały się na stwierdzeniu, że „jeden rozmiar nie pasuje wszystkim” i przyznały państwom członkowskim więcej możliwości dokonywania własnych wyborów. Można więc postawić zarówno pytanie teoretyczne, jak i praktyczne: jakie jest optymalne rozwiązanie dla UE i jej obywateli (działających zarówno jako konsumenci, jak i podatnicy), jeśli chodzi o kształtowanie polityki rolnej? Czy powinna to być polityka UE, czy powinna być ona pozostawiona państwom członkowskim, a nawet ich regionom? W artykule przedstawiono odpowiedź na pytanie postawione w tytule. Tę odpowiedź oparto na teorii federalizmu fiskalnego i środowiskowego, a także praktycznych zagadnieniach związanych z funkcjonowaniem rolnictwa UE z odwołaniem do przeglądu literatury. Wyniki pokazują, że w ramach polityki rolnej jest miejsce na działalność Unii i państw członkowskich. Optymalny podział zadań między UE i państwa członkowskie, oparty na zasadzie pomocniczości, pokazuje, że polityka unijna powinna koncentrować się na ochronie konkurencyjności unijnego rolnictwa i uczciwej konkurencji na wspólnym rynku UE, podczas gdy państwa członkowskie powinny skoncentrować się na dostosowywaniu instrumentów polityki UE do konkretnych potrzeb ich rolnictwa.
Celem badania jest analiza, czy zasady przekazywania kompetencji i subsydiarności w kontekście rozwiązań prawnych wprowadzonych Dyrektywą Parlamentu Europejskiego i Rady (UE) 2018/957 zmieniającą Dyrektywę 96/71 dotyczącą delegowania pracowników należy uznać za uzasadnione i proporcjonalne. Przedstawione argumenty wykazują, że zasada subsydiarności jest jedną z podstawowych zasad prowadzenia polityki gospodarczej w Unii Europejskiej. Na tej podstawie zbadano, czy uprawnienia polityczne powinny być delegowane na najniższy możliwy szczebel władzy zbliżony do obywateli, których dotyczy polityka - chyba że istnieją niezaprzeczalne korzyści z prowadzenia jej na wyższym szczeblu przy ściślejszej koordynacji. Należy rozważyć, czy propozycja Komisji Europejskiej ma inny cel niż deklarowany, a tym samym, czy narusza ona zasadę proporcjonalności. Udowodniono, że potrzebne są inteligentne i jasne przepisy dostosowane do szybko rosnącej mobilności przedsiębiorstw i obywateli UE, które zapobiegną postępującej utracie konkurencyjności rynku UE, przyśpieszą konwergencję społeczną i uniemożliwią nielegalną działalność szarej strefy wpływającej na sytuację pracowników migrujących wewnątrz UE. Powyższe kwestie i wnioski mogą, zdaniem autora, skłaniać do refleksji nad wagą tego, że podział kompetencji między państwami członkowskimi a instytucjami unijnymi jest ostatecznie decyzją polityczną, która pojawia się w kontekście konfliktu interesów, i wskazują, że analizy ekonomiczne mogą jedynie dostarczyć argumentów za lub przeciw centralizacji polityki. Ponadto należy podkreślić, że integracja jest procesem dynamicznym, dlatego wyniki analiz dotyczących uzasadnienia stosowania zasady subsydiarności mogą prowadzić do rozbieżnych ocen przez zainteresowane Państwa Członkowskie w czasie, w którym dynamicznie zmieniają się warunki funkcjonowania gospodarek.
EN
The aim of the study is to analyze if the subsidiarity principle in the context of the legal solutions introduced by the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council 2018/957 amending Directive 96/71 concerning the posting of employees in the framework of the provision of services should be considered justified and proportionate. The arguments presented will show the opinion that the subsidiarity principle is one of the basic rules for conducting economic policy in the European Union. On this basis, it will be investigated whether policy powers should be delegated to the lowest possible level of government, close to the citizens concerned by the policy, unless there are undeniable benefits to running it at a higher level in closer policy coordination. It should be considered if the European Commission proposal pursues a purpose other than the declared one and thus, violates the principle of proportionality. It will be proved that smart and clear rules are needed that are adapted to the rapidly growing mobility of EU businesses and citizens, which will prevent the progressive loss of competitiveness of the EU market, while accelerating social convergence and preventing illegal activities affecting intra-EU migrant workers. The issues mentioned above and the conclusions may lead, according to the author, to the reflection on the importance of the fact that the division of competences between the Member States and the EU institutions is ultimately a political decision that arises in the context of a conflict of interest and indicates that economic analyses can only provide arguments for or against policy centralization. Furthermore, it should be noted that the integration is a dynamic process, and therefore, the results of the analysis regarding the justification for the application of the subsidiarity principle may lead to divergent assessments by the Member States, as the conditions of the functioning of economies are rapidly changing.
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