Local Development Policies in the V4 Countries - in the Light of the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic

The Visegrcid countries have similar administrative systems, therefore the major characteristics of their development policies are similar, but several differences can be observed. These similarities and differences are analysed by this paper. Poland has a regionalized system and a partially merged 1st tier municipal model. Therefore, local development has a significant role. Hungarian, Czech and Slovakian local development policies are limited by the fragmented spatial and municipal systems, however the Slovakian regions have a strong development characteristic. Centralization tendencies can be observed but their intensities are different. The Hungarian model is significantly impacted by the strong centralization of the last ten years. Similar structures evolved among the local development policies of the 1st tier municipalities: the detailed development policies can be observed among the larger, mainly urban municipalities, the local development policies of the smaller, rural municipalities are based on the personal cooperation and neighbourhood activities. The COVID-19 pandemic influenced the local development policies, their focus has been transformed partially, but the structure of the local policies did not change significantly, the differentiated structure remained untouched.

Joanna GR?NDZI?SKA Istvan HOFFMAN Daniel KLIMOVSKY Ivan MALY Juraj NEMEC

The goal of this paper is to deliver a comparative analysis of the behaviors and statements of the PMs in Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, using the concept of adaptive leaderships as a base for analysis. We employed the usage of four fundamental skills proposed by Glover, Friedman and Jones (2002) and of five fundamental recommendations proposed by Macpherson and 't Hart (2020) to assess the behaviors and relevant statements of the PMs of the four analyzed countries during the time of the pandemic. The fact that all four analyzed PMs did not employ many adaptive leadership skills and recommendations may serve as one of the possible explanations for the very problematic results in fighting COVID-19 during the second phase of the pandemic, when especially the Czech Republic and Slovakia belonged to the most affected countries. The costs of such limited competence are borne by citizens and businesses.

Administrative Law in the Time of a Permanently Transforming Regulatory Environment

The Hungarian administrative law has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Several rules – which were introduced during the state of danger based on the epidemic situation – have been incorporated into the Hungarian legal system. The administrative procedural law has been influenced by the epidemic transformation. However, the rules on e-administration have not been reformed significantly (due to the digitalisation reforms of the last years), but the rules on administrative licenses and permissions have been amended. The priority of the general Code on Administrative Procedure has been weakened: a new, simplified procedure and regime have been introduced. The results of these reforms became obvious in 2021: the number of administrative cases has been de-creased. Even the decision-making of the central government bodies has been transformed partially, a trend of “militarisation” can be observed, as well. The local self-governance has been impacted by the reforms. The transformation has had two opposite trends. On the one hand, the Hungarian administrative system became more centralised during the last year: municipal revenues and task performance have been partly centralised. The Hungarian municipal system has been concentrated, as well. On the other hand, the municipalities could be interpreted as a “trash can” of the Hungarian public administration: they received new, mainly unpopular competences on the restrictions related to the pandemic. This approach transformed in the last months, and even several unpopular decisions were recentralised. Although, these changes have been related to the current epidemic situation, but it seems, that the “legislative background” of the pandemic offered an opportunity to the central government to pass significant and reforms. © 2022, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Sklodowskiej w Lublinie. All rights reserved.

Administrative law in the time of corona(virus): Resiliency of the hungarian administrative law?

The Hungarian administrative law has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Several rules - which were introduced during the state of danger based on the epidemic situation - have been incorporated into the Hungarian legal system. The administrative procedural law has been influenced by the epidemic transformation. However, the rules on e-administration have not been reformed significantly (due to the digitalisation reforms of the last years), but the rules on administrative licenses and permissions have been amended. The priority of the general code on administrative procedure has been weakened: new, simplified procedure and regime have been introduced. The local self-governance has been impacted by the reforms. The transformation has had two opposite trends. On the one hand, the Hungarian administrative system became more centralised during the last year: municipal revenues and task performance has been partly centralised. The Hungarian municipal system has been concentrated, as well. The role of the second-tier government, the counties (megye), has been strengthened by the establishment of the special economic (investment) zones. On the other hand, the municipalities could be interpreted as a “trash can” of the Hungarian public administration: they received new, mainly unpopular competences on the restrictions related to the pandemic. Although these changes have been related to the current epidemic situation, it seems, that the “legislative background” of the pandemic offered an opportunity to the central government to pass significant reforms. © 2021, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Sklodowskiej w Lublinie. All rights reserved.