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Source: USAK Yearbook of Politics and International Relations

USAK Yearbook of Politics and International Relations

Location: Turkey
Author(s): Hakan Samur
Title: A REVIEW OF THE FIRST NINE YEARS OF POLANDS MEMBERSHIP IN THE
EUROPEAN UNION
A REVIEW OF THE FIRST NINE YEARS OF POLANDS MEMBERSHIP IN THE
EUROPEAN UNION
Issue: 6/2013
Citation Hakan Samur. "A REVIEW OF THE FIRST NINE YEARS OF POLANDS MEMBERSHIP IN
style: THE EUROPEAN UNION". USAK Yearbook of Politics and International Relations 6:121-
139.
https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=319360
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USAK YEARBOOK
Vol.6, Year 2013, pp. 121-139

A REVIEW OF THE FIRST NINE YEARS OF POLANDS

MEMBERSHIP IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Hakan SAMUR*

Abstract
The aim of European Union membership has topped Polands agenda
since the 1990s based on both historical and real reasons. The accession
to the EU which occurred in May 2004 has had many positive and nega-
tive economic, political and social impacts on Poland within the last nine
years. The first period of the countrys membership has been shaped by the
pressure of the global economic crisis and also includes the important years
in which initial experience was gathered. These years will determine the
future trajectory of development for the country. Besides general economic,
regional, and political impacts, in this article we will try to explain the im-
pacts of EU membership on Poland in terms of its more specific facets such
as migration and public opinion of the EU.
Keywords: Poland, European Union, Migration, Economic Crisis, Euro-
zone, Public Opinion of the EU

Introduction
In the post-1989 period, the European Union has been the most impor-
tant international figure in Polands economic, political and social recon-
struction, and it played the roles of both Polands primary objective and its
guide in a time when the country was determining a strategic outlook for
itself. Apart from the Unions sympathetic approach to regime changes in
Central and Eastern Europe and its positive attitude for expanding towards
the region, Polands strong passion to become a European, which comes
from the centuries-old ideal of Returning to Europe, and the desire for this
passion to come to fruition have effected this progression. In other words,
once becoming a member of the Union, the corridor function of Poland,
which it had played between East and West for a very long time, and the

* Associate Professor at Mardin Artuklu University, Department of Political Science

and International Relations. Email: hsamur@hotmail.com

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122 A Review Of The First Nine Years Of Polands Membership...

countrys image as a country in the middle would come to an end, and

Poland would bolster its prestige as a strong European country based on
western economic and political values.
In light of these realities, which we may name as historic-romantic, EU
membership undisputedly became the primary goal of both large segments
of the public and of political elites in Poland after the collapse of the com-
munist regime directed by the Soviets. The pursuit of cooperation between
Poland and the Union, which began even before the regime change, gained
speed in a short amount of time, and Poland became one of the leading
countries of Central and Eastern Europe in terms of its relationship with the
Union and its eagerness to become a member. We wont discuss the rela-
tionship before membership was attained as this article seeks to analyze the
period after Polands accession to the EU. But in brief, the process started
with PHARE in 1989 as the Unions first support program in the region
and encompassed only Poland and Hungary. PHARE continued with the
Partnership Agreement signed in December 1991 and then the application
for candidacy in April 1994. The Candidate Country status given in 1997
ended in May 2004 with Polands full membership. The impacts of member-
ship on Poland since this date constitute the topic of our article. Although it
seems like a very short time period, it does not seem to be possible within
the limits of an article to explain all political, economic and social events
that have occurred over the course of more than nine years of membership.
That is why the analyses laid out here will cover the following aspects: The
regional and economic impacts of union membership, the migration move-
ments of Polish people within the EU, the impacts of membership on the
political trajectory of Poland on the national and international levels, and
finally, the change in public opinion of the EU.
Before starting the analyses of the mentioned topics, it would be better
to briefly explain the EUs status in the 1990s and 2000s. The 1990s, dur-
ing which Poland strived towards EU membership much like other Cen-
tral and Eastern European countries, has been the period in which the EU
also put forth plans to deepen economic and political deepening plans into
action. While accomplishing the goal of the single market by the end of
1992 as projected in the 1987 Single European Act, establishing a European
Central Bank in a 3-phase process, and deepening the transition to a com-
mon currency constitute the economic dimension, the common citizenship
mentioned in the Maastricht Agreement, deeper cooperation in internal and
external affairs, and the flexibilities to be implemented in decision making
mechanisms constitute the political dimension. In fact, both the economic
and political deepening processes materialized in a short period of time and
largely in harmony with the predetermined plans. Obvious progress has been
made in taking concrete steps. The freedom of free travel and settlement, one
of the most important parameters of common citizenship, was implemented

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U S A K Ye a r b o o k 2 0 1 3 123

through the Schengen System, the European Central Bank was established
in 1998, the transition to a common currency was completed in 2002 (al-
though some of the members have opted out), and endeavours to formulate
a common constitution began in the early 2000s in order to achieve a much
closer political union. Accession to the Union for the Central and Eastern
European countries as well as Malta and Cyprus was accomplished in 2004
and 2007.
But the formulation of goals in accordance with plans didnt mean that
these aims would be successful in practice. That is why it is possible to
say that post-2004, when Poland became a member, marks the best period
of years to review with regard to the practice of deepening efforts within
the EU. The failure to spread common citizenship and the spirit of togeth-
erness among all member countries peoples at a desired level, the failure
in establishing a common constitution, the absence of common defense
and foreign policies in particular, although this issue was attempted to be
overcome through the Lisbon Agreement, and the EUs ineffective voice in
global developments all represent indicators of the EUs political failings.
The problems faced by many countries during the economic recession in
2007 and after, and rising anxieties about the common currency represent
the indicators that the Unions economic deepening is underwhelming. In
brief, it can be said that Poland commenced its path to EU membership when
the Union was on the rise, setting sail for the future with great hopes, and
referring to a civilization-development perspective which has been held for
centuries by its people. But after becoming a member of the EU, Poland has
had to continue with a Union that entered a so-called stagnation period, and
had to struggle with many problems, especially those of an economic na-
ture. Within the scope of the mentioned criteria and taking into consideration
such a picture of the EU, we will try to analyze what has changed from the
Polish perspective and what has been gained or lost after the country became
an EU member.

Economic and Regional Impacts of Polands

EU Membership
It can be said that serious economic transformation and growth has been
experienced during the 1990s in Poland as radical measures were taken in
order to accomplish the structural change in line with the capitalist system.
It wouldnt be wrong to regard the EU as the most important factor in Po-
lands economic performance during this period, not only due to its finan-
cial support but also due to its great contributions in terms of institutional
organization and its influence on the states behavioral patterns. It was also
possible to use the same projection for the post-2004 period and to ana-
lyze the economic developments in Poland by directly linking them with the
EU. But as it will be mentioned below, the global economic crisis, which

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124 A Review Of The First Nine Years Of Polands Membership...

emerged in 2007 and persisted for some time afterward, prevented a normal
progression of events and blocked the comprehensive understanding of real
impacts of the EU membership on the countrys economic performance. For
this reason, it is necessary to consider this fact while analyzing the economic
impacts of Polands membership.
Although the annual growth rate, which reached 6-7% between 1995 and
1997 because of the positive progression of its path to EU membership, later
slowed, as seen in Table 1, the growth continued after EU membership even
during the crisis period between 2007 and 2009. The annual growth rate has
consistently hovered above the Union average. Albeit the GDP per capita
according to purchasing power parity in 2012 was 66 in Poland while it was
100 for the EU27, Poland managed to reach this level from 48 in 20041, and
succeeded despite the massive crisis in the global economic system.

Table 1: Real GDP Growth Rate in Poland

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Poland 3.9 5.3 3.6 6.2 6.8 5.1 1.6 3.9 4.5 1.9 1.1(est.)
EU-28 1.5 2.6 2.2 3.4 3.2 0.4 -4.5 2.0 1.6 -0.4

Source: Eurostat, http://europa.eu/publications/statistics/index_en.htm

The negative effects of the global economic crisis, which showed its
first effects in mid-2007 on the EU, was significantly high. While the GDP
growth of the EU was measured at 0.4% in 2008, the 4.5% decrease in 2009
brought the biggest recession since the Great Depression in 1930. The eco-
nomic crisis continued to have strong effects in the following years, and
threw light on the structural problems of the Union and the Euro Zone while
also leaving individual countries in difficult situations. During the crisis,
within the borders of the Union, there has been only one country that has
come to the fore with its successful economic performance; that country is
Poland. As a result of Polands receipt of support before achieving full EU
membership, in addition to the EUs financial support and increased foreign
investment after becoming a member, the 2004-2008 period was a lustrous
era for the Polish economy. In this same period, many EU member countries
have shown similar successful performances, not only Poland. But the dif-
ference between Poland and these other members, even those in the west of
the EU, is that Poland continued to grow in the following years despite the

1 GDP per Capita in PPS, Eurostat, 10 September 2013, (http://epp.eurostat.

ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do? tab=table&init=1&plugin=1&language=en&pcode=tec
00114).

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U S A K Ye a r b o o k 2 0 1 3 125

crisis. For example; in 2009 the rates of economic shrinkage were 6.8% for
Hungary, 4.5% for the Czech Republic, and 14.1% for Estonia. Poland was
one of a few EU countries that succeeded in growing more than 3% in 2010.
Of course, the economic crisis has slowed down the steady growth of
Poland, interrupted the positive dynamism brought by EU membership, and
led to some problems. For example; while the total number of active compa-
nies in the country increased by 3.6% between 2004 and 2007, this number
fell by almost 3% between 2008 and 2010 due to nearly 115,000 companies
closing their doors, most of them being micro and small-scale companies.2
The unemployment rate, which decreased by 12 points to 7% between 2004
and 2008, then began to rise, and exceeded the 10% mark in 2012.3 Nev-
ertheless, it should be said that Poland stood strong against the economic
crisis, and it came to the fore with its generally positive performance within
the EU. There were likely to be some internal factors for this: high domestic
demand, remarkable public expenses and close relationship with the Ger-
man economy, the biggest one in the EU. However, more importantly, some
external factors that have made important contributions to this situation have
been the advantages arising from EU membership and the fact that the coun-
try stayed out of the Euro Zone. The unperformed transition to the euro
that is bound to a common mechanism of the Union, and the Polish zlotys
ability to adapt to present conditions have increased export and decreased
import in the crisis period. Staying out of the Euro Zone has also allowed
the government to employ the monetary policy instruments such as regulat-
ing the money supply, interest rates, and exchange rate in harmony with the
countrys economic requirements.4 Although pro-EU governments were in
power during the crisis period in general, the continuous delay of transition
to the euro was a result of the efforts to protect this type of flexibility. Not
only the government officials, but also the Polish public seemed to be eager
to transition to the euro. This support of the euro, which they used to want
to see as their currency, has decreased over the years. While 64% of the na-
tion wanted the euro to replace the zloty in 2002, after membership this rate
decreased to 47% in November 2008 and to 32% in March 2011.5

2 Ryszard Borowiecki & Barbara Siuta-Tokarska, Structural Changes and Develop-

ment of the SME Sector in Poland after EU Membership, The Business and Man-
agement Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2012, p. 245.
3 Unemployment Statistics, Eurostat, 1 August 2013, (http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.
eu/statistics_explained/ index.php/Unemployment_statistics).
4 Christopher Alessi, Polands Economic Model, Council on Foreign Relations, 20
November 2012, (http://www.cfr.org/poland/polands-economic-model/p29506#p4);
Alojzy Z. Nowak & Yochanan Shachmurove, Economic Institutions and The Euro,
Montenegrin Journal of Economics, Vol. 8, No 2, 2012, p. 9; Micha Gradzewicz &
Krzysztof Makarski, The Business Cycle Implications of the Euro Adoption in Po-
land, Applied Economics, Vol. 45, No. 17, 2013, pp. 2443-2455.
5 CBOS, Polish Public Opinion, April 2011, (http://www.cbos.pl/PL/publikacje/pub-
lic_opinion/2011/04_2011.pdf), p. 1.

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126 A Review Of The First Nine Years Of Polands Membership...

Aside from the fact that Poland didnt participate in one of the most im-
portant common fields of the EU, profits made from the achievements of
integration crucially contributed to Polands ability to weather the crisis. The
main one of those achievements is the financial support that flowed from the
EU budget to Poland through structural funds. Poland is the country which
receives the highest portion of the EU budget. As seen in Table 2, the net to-
tal amount of this support exceeded 50 billion euro by April 2013. This sup-
port, which has been distributed to various sectors had an important effect
on the infrastructural development of the country, while it also obviously
contributed to the national GDP (for example, EU support amounting to 7.7
billion euro constituted 2% of the countrys GDP in 2010).6

Table 2: Balance of Financial Transfers between Poland and the EU

from 1 May 2004 until 31 March 2013 (Euro millions)

2004-2011 2012 2013 (until 31 March) TOTAL

Transfers
61.325 15.439 2.490 79.255
from EU
Contribution
-22.889 -3.568 -1.721 -28.180
to EU
Repayments to
-138 -1.63 -0.94 -141.47
EU

BALANCE 38.296 11.869 767.49 50.933

Source: Social and Economic Impact of Polands Membership of the European Union, Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, 1 May 2004 -1 May 2013, p. 9.

Not only the EU financial support, but also money sent back to Poland
by hundreds of thousands of Polish citizens that went abroad to work and
the foreign capital inflows increased due to Polands EU membership. These
may be counted among advantages of the integration process. From the sec-
ond quarter of 2004 to the end of 2012, the total amount of migrant remit-
tances sent from within other EU countries exceeded 32 billion euros, this
equates to almost 86% of total migrant remittances.7 In parallel with labor
migration within countries of the EU, the amount of migrant remittances

6 The Social and Economic Impact of Polands Membership of the European Union,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1 January 2012, (http://www.msz.gov.pl/resource/ef-
4215fc-25d9-4317-8b60-62d0e6467a3e:JCR), p. 5.
7 Social and Economic Impact of Polands Membership of the European Union 1
May 2004 -1 May 2013, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, September 2013, (http://www.
msz.gov.pl/resource/1f6677e7-cc34-45ab-9587-446ca4f33428:JCR), p. 11.

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U S A K Ye a r b o o k 2 0 1 3 127

soared during the first 3 years of membership, and although it decreased

in the subsequent crisis years, it has remained significant for the national
economy. Migrant remittances that amounted to 3.2 billion euro flowed into
the country despite the crisis, with 2.9 billion thereof coming from other EU
countries. Again, despite the crisis, the amount of worker remittances which
came from EU countries in 2009 and 2010 amounted to an annual 2.4 billion
euros.8
There is also a similar trend in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The
average annual FDI in Poland (approximately 6 billion USD between 2000
and 2003) reached 16 Billion USD between 2004 and 2008.9 While greater
stability and credibility of the country associated with its accession to the
EU attracted many investors from around the world to Poland, these new
properties also attracted investors from within EU member countries more
than before. In fact, while the share of investors from the EU15 accounted
for 74.1% of Polands FDI in 2003, this rate increased to 85% in 2007.10
Although the flow of foreign resources into the country decreased due to the
global economic crisis, foreign direct investment was measured at an annual
12-13 billion euros during the 2009-2012 period.11
New norms and human movement arising from Polands full member-
ship and integration into the Schengen Zone had different outcomes in dif-
ferent regions of Poland. For example, the new era has negatively affected
both border relationships with neighboring countries and the residential ar-
eas near the countrys eastern borders in terms of regional development.
In spite of the fact that strengthening the border patrol in order to prevent
illegal migration led to some positive effects such as decreased crime rates
and increased border security, the positive effects are outweighed by the
negative. Some of these negative effects include the decrease of frontier
trade due to visa-custom limitations, the obstructive effects of infrastruc-
tural differences between both sides of the borders regarding traffic, reor-
ganization of trade in Poland according to EU standards, and the increase
of immigration from border regions to western regions of the country or

8 Migrant Remittance and Cross Border or Seasonal Compensation Transfer Sta-

tistics, Eurostat, 1 December 2011, (http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_ex-
plained/index.php/Migrant_remittance_and_cross-border_or_ seasonal_compensa-
tion_transfer_statistics).
9 Zimny Zibigniew, Inward FDI in Poland and Its Policy Context, Columbia FDI
Profiles, 9 July 2010, (http://www.vcc.columbia.edu/files/vale/documents/Poland_
IFDI_July_9_2010_FINAL_0.pdf), p. 1.
10 4 Years of Polands Membership in the EU, January 2008, Office of the Committee
for European Integration, (http://www.msz.gov.pl/resource/11ce765c-027d-45bc-
8947-e01e2811d120:JCR), p. 26.
11 UNCTAD, World Investment Report 2013, (New York: United Nations, 2013), p.
213.

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128 A Review Of The First Nine Years Of Polands Membership...

to other EU countries.12 The implementation of visa requirements and the

decrease of border trade have led people to search for local solutions. Visa-
free movement within 30 km of the border between Poland and Ukraine was
accepted with some limitations through an agreement established in July
2009. Similar agreements have been signed with Belarus and Russia (with
regard to the Kaliningrad region). The western regions of the country have
benefited more from Union membership because Poland has historically
had close relationships with Germany and other countries beyond Germany.
It is possible to observe through euroregions that western regions profited
more from EU membership. The western euroregions, which started with
the Nysa euroregion in 1991, spanning the borders between Germany, Po-
land and the Czech Republic, nowadays number 15 and have experienced
the highest degree of development and dynamism, which started even before
Polands EU membership.
In brief, although it is possible to accept the rapid economic development
of the first 9 years of membership as an impact of EU membership itself and,
when considering the economic crisis, even as a success story, it is neces-
sary to talk discreetly about the future of this story when we consider the
GDP growth rates showing downward trends in and after 2012, in addition
to the rising unemployment rates. We must remember that while previous
advances of countries such as Greece and Ireland under the EU have been
praised, the recent global economic crisis turned this progress upside-down.
The thing which can be said now is that the economy of Poland hasnt ob-
tained a strong structure in the Union as seen in its recession-trend, despite
the countrys course of development and potential. Nonetheless, the role of
the EU in the countrys economic development will continue to be as im-
portant as it has been in the past because of the support afforded to it by the
EU budget. This support has reached 106 billion euros as the EU reduced its
budget for first time in its history for the 2014-2020 period.

EU Membership and Migration

It was one of the most important topics of discussion before 2004 that the
biggest risk facing the EU15 in their decision to enlarge towards Central and
Eastern European would be excessive labor migration. Although labor mi-
gration didnt occur at such an alarming level, it should be noted that labor
migrations have had significant effects on some sending and receiving coun-
tries. Poland is one of the most affected countries because the emigrations

12 Jerzy Baski & Wojciech Janicki, The Influence of the EUs Eastern Frontier on the
Socio-economic Situation of Border Areas, European Urban and Regional Studies,
Vol. 20,No. 3, 2013, pp. 299-313; Mirela Xheneti, David Smallbone & Friederike
Welter, EU Enlargement Effects on Cross-border Informal Entrepreneurial Activi-
ties, European Urban and Regional Studies, Vol. 20,No. 3, 2013, pp. 314-328.

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U S A K Ye a r b o o k 2 0 1 3 129

from the country to the EU15 geography that started even before attaining
membership increased exponentially after May 2004. In fact, according to
data from 2007, the largest share of working-age persons involved in intra-
EU migration during the last 4 years belongs to the Polish population at
26%. Following the Poles, the rate of Romanians was 19%, and the shares of
all other countries populations were lower than 10%. In this situation, it can
be said that one out of every four persons migrating to other EU countries
every couple of years after 2005 is a Polish citizen. However, this rate was
much higher in countries that received higher amounts of migrants; 49%
of people migrating to England, 46% of people migrating to Ireland, and
32% of people migrating to Germany were Polish citizens.13 According to
this statistical information of the EU Commission, which doesnt include
unregistered, seasonal, or other employees, almost 1 million Polish work-
ers had taken part in intra-EU migration from the beginning of membership
up until 2007. When temporary jobs are included, according to the Polish
Central Statistical Office data, this amount jumps to 1.5 million; and the
total number of migrants is 2.3 million (which equals the total population of
the country).14 This steady increase in migration started to decrease in 2007-
2008, and then a reverse migration trend emerged. The discrepancies be-
tween data sources and evaluations prevent the acquirement of accurate in-
formation on exact migration values. Nevertheless, the data clearly presents
the large proportion of Polish people involved in intra-EU migration. While
Poland has 1.6 million of its people spread throughout other EU countries,
thus constituting the 4th largest foreigner group according to Eurostats 2011
calculations,15 according to Polands official calculations, the total number
of people that immigrated to EU countries at the beginning of 2012 was
higher than 2 million.16
These migrations have had important social and economic effects on
Poland. While it was even mentioned in the 1990s that the country could
face extensive emigration issues, in the post-2004 period, when a close fam-
ily member of nearly one out of every three Polish people has emigrated
to another EU country, the concerns of brain drain and Euro-orphans
(the children of people trying to emigrate to other EU countries) have trans-
formed into a national hysteria.17 The details that escalated these concerns

13 European Commission, Employment in Europe 2008, (Luxembourg: Office for Of-

ficial Publications of the European Commission, 2008), p. 118.
14 Agnieszka Fihel, Pawe Kaczmarczyk & Renata Stefaska, Recent Trends in Inter-
national Migration in Poland, Central and Eastern European Review, Vol. 1, No. 1,
2012, p. 80.
15 Katya Vasileva, Population and Social Conditions, Eurostat Statistics in Focus
31/2012, 2012, p. 2.
16 Social and Economic Impact of Polands Membership of the European Union: 1
May 2004 -1 May 2013, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2013, p. 13.
17 Joanna Rydzewska, Great Britain, Great Expectations: The Representation of Pol-
ish Migration to Great Britain in Londynczycy/Londoners, Critical Studies in Tele-
vision, Vol. 6, No. 2, 2011, pp. 127-140.

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130 A Review Of The First Nine Years Of Polands Membership...

were that most Polish migrants were male (50% more than females), highly
or medium-skilled, and young (20-29 years old).18 In combination with the
declining birth rate, emigration has become a significant pressure on the
countrys population. The increase of working-age emigration in such a
short amount of time was a factor which contributed to the fall in Polands
GDP. According to a calculation, this loss will affect a 1% GDP decrease by
2015, while occurring at 0.2% in the short term.19
Polish people have become one of the groups that show the highest de-
gree of adaptability to the EU countries where they have immigrated. Never-
theless, the strain between migrants and local peoples in receiving countries
has frequently led to social and cultural tensions. Aside from this, since 2004
a synchronous reverse migration trend emerged due to various familial, so-
cial, emotional, and economic push-and-pull factors while outward migra-
tion continued.20 The rapid emergence of economic development in Poland
can be considered as the most important pull-factor encouraging the return
of Poles to Poland in the first years. This can be seen in the total number
of returnees from 2004 to 2008, which reached 580,000. 213,000 of these
returns occurred in 2007 when economic growth peaked.21 Also, in the years
of the economic crisis, migrants have returned to their home country because
of increasing tension and problems that stemmed from limited employment
opportunities. It is necessary to mention that the returnees returning during
and after the crisis, especially the low-skilled returnees, had difficulties in
finding new jobs, and this situation led to new problems. The highly-skilled
returnees, however, were better able to reorient themselves to business life
by finding job easier.22 Finally, research shows that the Polish people, espe-
cially those who have had previous experience abroad, will continue their
circulation in Europe in the coming years depending on economic develop-
ments both in Poland and other EU countries.23

18 Pawe Kaczmarczyk & Marek Okolski, Demographic and Labour-market Impacts

of Migration on Poland, Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Vol. 24, No. 3, 2008,
pp. 599624; European Commission, European Commission, Employment in Eu-
rope 2008, (Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Commis-
sion, 2008).
19 European Commission, European Commission, Employment in Europe 2008, (Lux-
embourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Commission, 2008), p.
135.
20 Egidijus Barceviius et al., Labour Mobility within the EU: The Impact of Return
Migration, (Dublin: Eurofound, 2012).
21 Marta Anacka & Agnieszka Fihel, Return Migration to Poland in the Post-acces-
sion Period, in Bla Galgczi, Janine Leschke & Andrew Watt (Ed.), EU Labour
Migration in Troubled Time: Skills Mismatch, Return and Policy Responses, (Sur-
rey: Ashgate, 2012), pp. 143-168.
22 Egidijus Barceviius et al., Labour Mobility within the EU: The Impact of Return
Migration.
23 Anzelika Zaiceva & Klaus F. Zimmermann, Returning Home at Times of Trouble?
Return Migration of EU Enlargement Migrants during the Crisis, The Institute for

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U S A K Ye a r b o o k 2 0 1 3 131

Political Impacts of the EU Membership

Polish people have been inclined to join the European Union because
they believed that this would materialize their idea and belief that Poland is
a part of Europe not only in terms of geography but also in terms of politics
and culture. Through the EU membership, their country would no longer
occupy a peripheral position, and would be a country governed according
to democratic-civic values, have a voice in Europe, and maybe become an
example of democratization for other countries. As it will be explained in
the next chapter, although opposition against the EU membership decreased
due to economic factors, expectations about the new political position to be
obtained with this membership have continued among political elites in the
country.
The active and sometimes improper political stance and self-confident
approach which Poland presented in the first years of membership led to
frequent discussions. In fact, it wouldnt be wrong to say that the New
Europe-Old Europe disputes, which expressed a mental dichotomy in the
EU, arose due to the attitudes of Poland in those years. In disputes arising
from the argument that a new Europe is arising against the EUs traditional
dominant powers and their policies, the state that was seen as leading the
increasing powerful New Europe was Poland. Some member countries
different approaches to Union policy and their loud declarations of opposi-
tion have significantly contributed to this rapid rise of Poland. Some de-
velopments such as that of Poland coming to the side of American-British
strategy, the fact that it was one of the countries that sent the highest amount
of soldiers to the 2003 Iraq War, its hosting of one third of all American in-
vestments in Central and Eastern Europe (the sum of which was 163 billion
USD in 2008, 14 times more than it was 12 years ago),24 and even the USA
agenda item of granting visa-free travel rights to Polish citizens all led to the
belief that Poland was a Trojan Horse within the EU. Similarly, Polands
disagreeable and oppositional attitudes vis--vis many political points such
as competition law (only Poland objected to a patent agreement in 2004
which would have increased the competitive edge of the EU in the face
of the USA), energy and environmental topics (such as it objection to the
EU plan regarding greenhouse gas emissions), and the voting system of EU
institutions (with regard to the EU Constitutional Treaty and Lisbon Treaty
meetings) led Poland to be seen as a blocking state.25

the Study of Labor Discussion Paper Series, December 2012, (http://ftp.iza.org/

dp7111.pdf).
24 Piotr Kuskowski, Jacek Sadowski & Mariusz Strojny, 20 Years of American In-
vestment in Poland, Report of the American Chamber of Commerce in Poland and
KPMG, (Warsaw: KPMG, 2010), p. 18.
25 Roderick Parkes, How Poland Came To Be A Major EU Power, 31 May 2013,
(http://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/?fa=51958).

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132 A Review Of The First Nine Years Of Polands Membership...

These views witnessed in the early years of membership have been re-
placed by more moderate and constructive approaches. Besides being in-
fluenced by the economic development resultant of EU membership, this
change has also been affected by Polands successful performance during
the economic crisis and the proactive role it has come to play in economic
decisions. Because of its economic performance during the crisis, Poland
was able raise its voice and finds itself at the fore of fighting for the inclusion
of countries which hadnt yet started to use the euro. This can be seen in the
countrys mission to strengthen the fiscal structures of the Euro Zone coun-
tries in the Euro Plus Pact that was released in early 2011.26 Also, Poland
provided financial support to countries affected by the crisis such as Latvia,
Iceland, and Moldova. In fact, the power of Poland to have an impact on
both economic and other issues belongs to its constructive diplomatic suc-
cess in eliminating disputes between Germany, France, and the UK.27
Besides these roles played due to the economic crisis, the duties Poland
has assumed in small- and large-scale institutions of the Union have pro-
vided its institutions and officers experience and skills in developing and
implementing multi-dimensional approaches. Additionally, besides the
Europe-level tasks, Polands position as a local coordinator in some edu-
cational programs of the EU in Central Asia and its active participation in
providing humanitarian support and social development programs further
enhanced the perspectives of its institutions and officers, leading them to
specialize and play more effective roles in the EU. This mentioned dyna-
mism and improvement is not only valid for government institutions and of-
ficers but also for the non-governmental organizations in the country, which
have improved their contacts with counterparts in other EU countries and
become more active.
During their EU Council Presidency in the second half of 2011, the gen-
erally successful image of Poland as a country which eliminated its inexpe-
rience and incompatibility indicated that it had transformed into a player
disposed to take its responsibilities in the center of the EU rather than being
under effects of the Atlanticist tendencies.28 By taking responsibility of 500
million EU citizens and proving its ability to think at the continental level, as
Foreign Affairs Minister Sikorski mentioned, the presidency has become the
indicator that Polish people have achieved their historical desire to become

26 The Social and Economic Impact of Polands Membership of the European Union:
1 May 2004 -1 May 2013, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2013, p. 2.
27 Roderick Parkes, How Poland Came To Be A Major EU Power, 31 May 2013,
(http://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/?fa=51958).
28 Karolina Pomorska & Sophie Vanhoonacker, Poland in the Driving Seat: A Mature
Presidency in Turbulent Times, Journal of Common Market Studies, Vol. 50, An-
nual Review, 2012, p. 83.

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U S A K Ye a r b o o k 2 0 1 3 133

European,29 in addition to helping national organs of the country for improv-

ing their capacities and skills.
An important change was observed in Polands attitudes, especially
when it came to overcoming the security and defense issues, apt to the Unit-
ed States and NATO. Since 2008, Poland has assumed a constructive at-
titude oriented at providing more space for EU-based solutions. Aside from
the decreasing interest of the USA in European defense, it can be said that
Polands will to improve its shining star position in the EU, by allowing
Europeanness to dominate and focusing on the EU, has played an important
role in this change.30
One of the expected achievements to be attained from the EU member-
ship was the improvement of Polands model and guiding position for de-
mocratization. Especially for neighboring countries, which do not yet have
democratic governments, Poland has already, even before EU membership,
set a strategy for assisting their democratizations. But after 2004, Poland
has increased its backing of democratization in the form of projects that aim
to strengthen democracy and civil society through bilateral and multilateral
agreements. While it used to be a country that received support for its own
democratization, Poland itself has started to establish support programs for
other countries after securing its democratic image with the EU member-
ship. Poland has not only conducted these programs on a national level but
has also remained active at the EU level. Poland, as the leading country
to support eastward and southward enlargement, released the initiative of
Eastern Partnership which projects the systematization of democratization
support to Eastern Europe and Caucasian countries with membership poten-
tial. This Polish-Swedish initiative was brought to the agenda of the Union
in May 2008 and was put into action in May 2009.31
All in all, it can be said that Poland has achieved many important eco-
nomic and political gains during its first 9 years of membership. By means of
its constructive and dynamic role in the Union, Poland received the rising
star title, but as is the case with its economic development, the future re-
mains unclear. This is because Poland has become a country with a voice in
the political arena as a result of its existing economic success. However, its
rapid economic growth seems to be subsiding nowadays. Also their political
successes have been generally based on their role in balancing and build-
ing bridges between the three big states of the Union. While Poland will
inevitably have to support one of the parties if a dispute arises between these

29 Gideon Rose, The Polish Model-A Conversation with Radek Sikorski, Foreign
Affairs, Vol. 92, No. 3, 2013, pp. 1-8.
30 Clara Marina ODonnell, Polands U-turn on European Defence: A Missed Oppor-
tunity?, Policy Brief, (London: Centre for European Reform, 2012).
31 Tsveta Petrova, How Poland Promotes Democracy, Journal of Democracy, Vol.
23, No. 2, 2012, pp. 133-147.

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134 A Review Of The First Nine Years Of Polands Membership...

three countries, in reality it is already in dispute with some of these countries

when it comes to important issues such as the Euro Zone and enlargement
and energy policies.32

Public Opinion about the EU

Considering the combined effects of Polands historical desire to be ac-
cepted as European and it experience under tyrannical and economically
destructive Communism, the widespread positive outlook of the Polish peo-
ple towards EU membership and the EU in general during the early 1990s
should be regarded as normal. Although the socioeconomic dilemmas of
the transformation process in Poland were experienced to the greatest de-
gree and large segments of the population were faced with unemployment,
homelessness, and many other problems, the EU maintained its mythical
position as the rescuer and a dream to be fulfilled in public opinion. With
the first official research of the EU conducted by Eurobarometer in Central
and Eastern European Countries in 1990, it was determined that 72%33 of
the Polish public supported membership in the short term, while in 1994 the
support rate was determined as 77% in research conducted by CBOS, the
official public opinion research institution of Poland.34 Only 2% in the first
study and 6% in the second study significantly objected to EU membership.
This positive support of the EU membership continued until 1998, and
started to decrease day by day since that year. This is because as the acces-
sion process progressed and the candidate status became clear, more detailed
and concrete information was obtained by the public and various segments
of the community were better able to perform cost-benefit analyses. A gen-
eral belief that the EU designs its mutual relationships by considering its
own benefit generally became more accepted, and consequently the sup-
port rates started to decrease.35 In fact, although it was very important for
the countrys historical narrative and fulfillment of a historical desire of the
nation, the voter-turnout of the EU-membership referendum was only 59%.
Although the referendum result was 77% in favor of accession, it can be said
that this support occurred unwillingly and under the influence of a hunger
for returning to Europe because the support rate even in the first year of the
EU membership was determined as 53%.36

32 Roderick Parkes, How Poland Came to be a Major EU Power, 31 May 2013, (http://
carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/?fa=51958).
33 Jurgen Hofrichter & Inge Weller, A Report Prepared upon Central and Eastern Eu-
robarometer-1990, (Brussels: Commission of the European Community, 1991).
34 CBOS, Report 36/2001: Opinions About Integration with European Union, (War-
saw: CBOS, 2001).
35 Aleks Szczerbiak, Polish Public Opinion: Explaining Declining Support for EU
Membership, Journal of Common Market Studies, Vol. 39, No. 1, 2001, pp. 105-
122.
36 European Commission, Standart Eurobarometer 63, September 2005, (http://
ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/ archives/eb/eb63/eb63_en.pdf), P. 94.

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U S A K Ye a r b o o k 2 0 1 3 135

After becoming an EU member, the Polish community gained the op-

portunity to pursue accurate analyses and to acquire detailed information on
the EU, as opposed to evaluations based on estimations of speculative in-
formation, therefore, they shaped their perspectives in this parallel. Support
of the EU significantly increased during the first 3 years when there was no
economic crisis and people immigrated to other countries with great hopes,
and when the benefits of EU membership began to be felt, the rate of people
defining the EU membership as a good achievement increased to 67% in the
spring of 2007.37 After this date, the public opinion of the EU took a more
negative turn; the rate of people with a positive image of the EU was deter-
mined to be 41% in May 2012.38
All this data shows that since the EU entered the Polish peoples agenda,
the publics evaluations of the EU transformed to become more pragmatic,
rather than idealist and emotional as they once were. This pattern becoming
more clear after the countrys EU accession may lead to negative results in
the future for both the EU and for Poland, which has lofty aspirations within
the EU. The deceleration of economic growth and the lack of dynamism
in the Union which can reverse this process will lead the Polish people to
approach deepening of the EU and Polands assumption of more initiative
in the Union with suspicion. This situation will limit the elbow room of
national policy players in terms of strategies regarding the EU. Also this
transformation of a nation which just two decades ago considered itself as
the hearth of Europe and as an inseparable part of the Union to the
point where it approaches the Union with suspicion would be a perturbing
image in terms of the integrated European society that the EU projected to
construct.

Conclusion
As mentioned before, it doesnt seem to be possible to evaluate the exact
impacts of the EU membership on Poland since 2004 because of the very
important occurrence of the global economic crisis in the same period. In
fact, the EU membership has contributed to Poland significantly in terms of
its economy, and also led to improvements in the country, both with regard
to its infrastructure and increase in revenue. With the pushing effect of these
improvements, Poland has tried to take on a larger role in the political arena
of the EU and to assert its strong European country status which it has
long dreamt of and accepted as a historical right. This effort, which took on
a more aggressive and oppositional character during the first years of mem-

37 European Commission, Standart Eurobarometer 67, November 2007, (http://

ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/ archives/eb/eb67/eb67_en.pdf), P. 96.
38 European Commission, Standart Eurobarometer 77- Tables of Results, May 2012,
(http://ec.europa.eu/ public_opinion/archives/eb/eb77/eb77_anx_en.pdf), P. 52.

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136 A Review Of The First Nine Years Of Polands Membership...

bership, has continued in a more constructive and balanced way through the
obtainment of managerial and political experience. Considering all of these
factors, it can be said that more than nine years of membership has been
useful for Poland.
However, it is clear that coinciding internal and external conditions con-
tributing to economic growth will not continue as it did in the past. First
of all, it can be said that the strategy of staying out of the Euro Zone is not
sustainable in the long term and Poland wont be able to act as flexibly in
economic decisions as it had before. If Poland were to insist on this strategy,
it would remain outside of the deepening progress of the EU, and its aim to
be an effective player in the EU would be interrupted.39

39 Witold M.Orowski, Poland Has Survived the Economic Crisis Remarkably Well,
but the Country Faces a Future Dilemma Over Adopting the Euro, 25 September
2012, (http://bit.ly/RFfgR7).

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U S A K Ye a r b o o k 2 0 1 3 137

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