Euroscepticism in Poland

Résumé du document

Since the collapse of its communist regime in 1989-1990, Poland aimed at joining the European Economic Community/European Union (EU). In 1991, the Association Agreement was signed by the country and the international organization. Poland officially applied for membership in June 1994. The negotiations for accessions began in March 1998. Poles accepted that their country integrated the EU by referendum in June 2003. Finally, Poland became a full member of the continental institutions on the 1st May 2004. With its forty millions of inhabitants, Poland was the biggest of the ten countries which joined the Union in its latest enlargement. After the collapse of communism, an overwhelming majority of Poles agreed with the idea of joining the EU. However, as in every applicant countries, the level of popular support for EU membership decreased when the negotiations started, since the concessions and harmful reforms were then discussed by officials and criticized by citizens. Nowhere had the decline of public support been more dramatic than in Poland.

Extraits

[...] The only conclusion that can be drawn is that it is likely that there is a religious-based part in the euroscepticism of some of the LPR voters. This party participated to the last two parliamentary elections only. It obtained 7,87% of the votes in 2001 and in 2005. II the reject of the capitalist and democratic values is fundamental to explain Polish (hard) euroscepticism The main ideological component of Polish euroscepticism is the rejection of capitalist and democratic values. That makes sense since the EU is based politically on the idea of democracy, and economically on those of liberalism and capitalism. [...]

[...] That does not mean that 25% of the Polish population is eurosceptic, as everyone can be considered as eurosceptic to a certain extent. The only interest of this figure is to convey the idea that at least 25% of the Polish population is not satisfied with the idea or the process of the European integration. Table Evaluation of Polish EU membership (2003 2005) Source: Eurobarometer These figures from some of the latest Eurobarometers confirms the stabilization of the Polish support of EU membership around 55% of the population, even if the statistics for spring 2004, corresponding to the campaign of the referendum for accession, are lower. [...]

[...] In 2001, the campaign for the parliamentary elections conveyed also the rise of euroscepticism in the country. Indeed, on the eight parties which competed, only two were absolutely pro-EU: the left-wing SLD and the liberal Civic Platform (PO). Four parties expressed conditional support to EU membership and advocated a tough negotiation strategy. They argued that otherwise, Poland would be a second-class EU member. The two anti-EU parties, i.e. the LPR and Samoobrona, of course rejected the idea of integration to the EU. [...]

[...] This very widespread opinion reinforces the reluctance of a part of the Polish population to give a part of the national sovereignty to the European Union. The sovereignty-based dimension of the Polish euroscepticism is definitively linked to the strong national feeling and identity. The League of Polish Families understood very well these problems and make them part of their usual rhetoric. As a consequence, the co-existence of the Polish and of the European parts of the identity of the Poles might be a real problem. [...]

[...] First of the voters chose unequivocally pro-EU parties (in which 41,04% for SLD). Moreover, the EU was not at all a salient topic during the campaign, and only of the respondents to a survey made in July 2001 cited their stance on EU membership as one of the issues that made them chose their vote. As a consequence, the rise of anti-EU parties can not be attributed only and mainly to their position against the integration of Poland into the continental organisation. [...]