BARRIERS TO THE PROCESS OF AWARDING AND IMPLEMENTATION OF EU FUNDS AND SYSTEMIC MECHANISMS IN THE LATE WELFARE STATE. THE CASE OF POLAND

The article deals with the issue of structural and cohesion funding by the European Union in Poland. Although all funds earmarked for the first programming period 2004-2006 were allocated, the process posed certain problems. Therefore, in our paper we point to the weaknesses of the system and some of the hindrances to efficient fund allocation: faulty institutional and legal framework, bureaucracy, corruption and personnel deficits. We base our findings on a research incorporating 150 in-depth interviews carried out in four regions of Poland. Referring to Niklas Luhmann's theory of autopoietic systems, we present a sketch of an unevenly differentiated political system, in which administration and politics prevail over the underprivileged public, incapable of counteracting trends of politicization and bureaucratization. By showing the evolution and reproduction of the system, we relate to its deficits and their impact on the future use of the EU funds inflow.