Two Ends of a Stick? Regional Strategic Planning and Operational Programming in Poland in the Context of EU Membership

Abstract: The article focuses on the relationship between the strategic planning and operational programming in the Polish regional development policy in the period before the accession to the European Union (EU), and in the first years of the EU membership. Specifically, it offers an analysis of the configuration of legal acts and programming documents, which establish the formal framework for the regional development policy. It is demonstrated that the programme framework of the Polish regional policy has been marked by a split between strategic and operational planning and the construction of framework operational programmes, with possible hindering effects for regional development