The Impact of the European Union’s Climate Policy on the Fiscal Autonomy of Municipalities in Poland

Abstract

The article examines the impact of European Union climate policy on the financial autonomy of municipalities in Poland in 2018–2024. It is based on the assumption that the intensification of EU climate action after 2018 has been accompanied by increasing regulatory and investment pressure, with the practical consequences largely borne at the local level. The main objective of the study is to identify and assess the mechanisms through which legal and financial instruments of EU climate policy affect municipal revenue structures, expenditure patterns and debt levels, thereby shaping their real financial autonomy. The study adopts a comparative research design and relies on secondary data analysis. The empirical part is based on budgetary indicators for six local government units in the Lublin and Silesian voivodeships, including revenue autonomy, debt burden, expenditure pressure in municipal services and environmental protection, and the share of EU funds in total revenues. The analysis is supplemented by a macroeconomic regional context, measured by GDP per capita. The results indicate that the increase in climate-related expenditures was not proportionally offset by growth in municipalities’ own revenues. EU funds played mainly a complementary role, while rising indebtedness emerged as the key adjustment mechanism, particularly in municipalities with weaker revenue bases. The findings also reveal significant territorial inequalities in the capacity to finance climate transformation, linked to regional economic disparities. From a political science perspective, the study shows that EU climate policy contributes to a gradual erosion of municipalities’ real financial autonomy as an indirect outcome of the Europeanisation of public policies within a system of multi-level governance.