The majority of regions prove that it was not a good idea to shift the distribution of EU funds from central to local authorities. The problems are experts, decisions made individually and formal criteria.
“It’s funny how many formal criteria are required by local authorities. The differences in numbers and reasons are surprising”, Marzena Chmielewska from Lewiatan employers’ organization said.
“In Wielkopolska region in the 1.2 program, 326 applications were submitted and 324 ones were rejected due to formal mistakes”, Michal Przybyl from PWB stressed.
Elzbieta Bienkowska, the minister of regional development, is disappointed.
“I worked for local authorities myself and I’m still a supporter of decentralization. In practice, however, you can see that the majority of local authorities cannot cope with too much freedom and we have no influence to change it”, the minister admitted.