The positions of

Plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of his or her sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the wor ...

on European Integration to the Regional Governor (Pełnomocnik Wojewody ds. Europejskich) were gradually established in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

between 1996 and 1999 in all of Poland's then 49 regions, or

voivodeship A voivodeship is the area administered by a voivode (Governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed since medieval times and the area of extent of voivodeship resembles that of a duchy in western medieval ...

s (województwa). This step was taken in the wake of Poland's 1994 application for membership in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

in order to prepare the Polish administration and society at large for the process of European integration and Poland's eventual joining the EU (which took place in 2004). In early 1996, Regional Governor of the

Opole Voivodeship Opole Voivodeship, or Opole Province ( pl, województwo opolskie ), is the smallest and least populated voivodeship (province) of Poland. The province's name derives from that of the region's capital and largest city, Opole. It is part of Upper Si ...

(Wojewoda Opolski),

Ryszard Zembaczyński Ryszard () is the Polish equivalent of "Richard", and may refer to: *Ryszard Andrzejewski (born 1976), Polish rap musician, songwriter and producer *Ryszard Bakst (1926–1999), Polish and British pianist and piano teacher of Jewish/Polish/Russian ...

, appointed

Tomasz Kamusella Tomasz Kamusella FRHistS (born 24 December 1967) is a Polish scholar pursuing interdisciplinary research in language politics, nationalism and ethnicity. Education Kamusella was educated at the University of Silesia in Katowice, Faculty of P ...

as the first-ever Plenipotentiary of this kind.Integracja europejska a Śląsk Opolski uropean Integration and Opole Silesia(pp 6–12). 1997. ''Region Śląsk Opolski''. No 1. Opole, Poland: Ośrodek Informatyki WBD UW.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plenipotentiary on European Integration to the Regional Governor Politics of Poland 1996 in the European Union