The Organisational Structure of the Foreign Ministry of Poland

Abstract

The organisation of Foreign Ministry is defined exclusively in the regulations of the home law. Foreign Ministry in Poland works for the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is the principal organ of state administration.

In 1998 a new organisational structure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was introduced, a structure that diverted from the classical division into departments and sections. The Statute has anticipated the establishment of thirty eight organisational units, including twenty seven departments with a various range of competence and differing with regard to the status of employment. Six co-ordination departments have been established. They have become an additional cell between the units responsible for a definite range of affairs and the management of the department. This structure in many cases was misleading for external clients and co-operating subjects.

In 2001 the organisational structure of Foreign Ministry was changed. Prime Minister conferred the Statute on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to which twenty three organisational units were included within the ministry. At the moment the current Statute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of 2002 confirms that the Ministry is composed of twenty three organisational units. Thus they have returned to the classical structure based on the powerful position of departments.