Encyklopedia Administracji Publicznej MW Pivot Skin

GOVERNMENT COMMITTEES – collective and internal working teams, appointed by the government as auxiliary, reconciliation and consultative bodies, aimed at: 1. relieving the government (→ Council of Ministers) from making decisions by preparing and agreeing on them before the final adoption by the government; 2. making agreements on policies and legislation among → ministries; 3. making evaluations of proposed public interventions in terms of social and economic consequences (→ impact assessment). Gov.c. most often have a problem-based character – they are either permanent or appointed to settle a particular matter. The most important role is played by gov.c. with general competence. Examples of gov.c. of a general nature are: the Committee on Political Affairs – in the Second Republic of Poland, the Economic Committee of the Council of Ministers – in the Second Republic of Poland, in the Polish People’s Republic and now. Other contemporary gov.c. of a general nature are: the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers, the Defence Committee of the Council of Ministers or the Committee for European Affairs. Gov.c. are most often appointed by the government itself or the prime minister. In the practice of European governments, the most common committees are: economic, social, regional policy, defence, security and order, European affairs and integration, as well as committees referred to as the “small council of ministers”, e.g. consisting of deputy ministers – secretaries of state, sitting under the chairmanship of a chosen minister, deputy prime minister or head of the office serving the work of the government. [D. Długosz]

Literature: J. Blondel, F. Müller-Rommel, Cabinets in Eastern Europe, Basingstoke 2001 ■ Rządy w państwach Europy [Governments in European countries], ed. E. Zieliński, I. Bokszczanin, vol. 1–4, Warszawa 2003 – 2007.