Policy Goals and Interest Group Advocacy Strategies Regarding Air Quality Policy in Selected Regions in Poland and Czech Republic

Paper focuses on comparative analysis of selected regions in Poland and Czech Republic regarding interest groups advocacy strategies, activities, policy goals and intermediation on national and regional level in environmental policy. The study will cover two voivodeships (polish: województwo) in Poland (Silesian and Lesser Poland) and two regions (Czech: kraj) in Czech Republic (Moravian-Silesian and South moravian region). After the fall of state socialism in CEE the problem of shaping energy policy and energy security appeared., due to this, the issues of energy and environmental policy in Poland and Czech Republic will be analyzed; author will analyze advocacy strategies and policy goals of different environmental and energy interest groups as well as the minimal standards of hard coal qualities allowed by respective regional assemblies in selected regions. The decisions taken in specific voivodships are rooted in the national and supranational legislation, but also takes into account the regional characteristics such as differences in degree of air pollution, the role of the coal industry in the regional economy, geographic location, the density and type of interest groups which are most important variables in this research. The transformation process in Poland and Czech Republic caused a simultaneous transformation of energy policy in both countries, despite many similarities e.g. attempts of energy supplies diversification, Czech Republic in contrast to Poland is a producer of nuclear energy. Both countries are subject to the same European regulations. Along with the phenomenon of transition process, the phenomenon of interest consolidation appeared expressed through the interest organizations and their activities. Author is assuming that groups of interest are form of civic activity in the political, economic or social sphere which is oriented on achieving assumed goals in line with their aspirations and preferences. The goals and aspirations of interest groups are diverse and may be contradictory due to various factors. However, in the field of environmental and energy policy interest groups will seek to meet their aspirations and achieve their goals through various forms of influence and attempts to shape the policies. In political context there’s many paths to influence of which we can distinguish direct (administrative or parliamentary) or indirect (media/ protests/public communication) forms of advocacy to maximize political influence. Taking into account the diversity of goals and advocacy strategies, author will analyze what are the policy goals and how diversified are interest organizations due to their type and advocacy strategies in selected regions regarding environmental and energy policy. What’s the environmental and geographical role and how it influence organizational density? Is there a regional diversity of organization type, goals and strategies? Is there a differences between group type (public interest groups, business groups and labor unions) and their impact strategies and forms of advocacy? Does organizational recourses play role in the form of advocacy strategies?