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16 Ania Krok-Paszkowska and Jan Zielonka became aware of the less attractive conditions of EU membership and the price they may have to pay for it. They worried about the cost of the rapid adoption of EU technical, social and environmental standards. Voters wanted to know the concrete reasons why they should join and what they would get out of it. The elites in favour of joining the Union were faced with a tough test of their policy: on June 7-8th, 2003 the Poles were asked to support the EU accession in a referendum. The results of the referendum represented an enormous and largely unexpected victory for the friends of Europeanization: 77.45 per cent voted in favour of EU membership and only 22.55 per cent against, with a relatively high turnout of 58.85 per cent. How can one explain these rather surprising results? On the eve of the accession referendum there was a massive and determined pro-European campaign led by a broad coalition of political parties from centre-left to centre-right. Poland’s widely respected president Alexander Kwaśniewski campaigned vigorously in favour of the “yes” vote and helped the embattled coalition-government led by Leszek Miller to present the case in terms of national rather than merely party interests. However, weaknesses in the anti-European campaign have probably shaped the outcome of the referendum in a crucial manner. Parties engaged in the “no” campaign clearly failed to receive significant backing from their own electorate. A large proportion of people who voted for Eurosceptic parties such as the League of Polish Families and Self-Defence in the 2001 parliamentary elections, voted in favour of accession in the EU referendum (35% and 50% of supporters respectively). 37 The problem lay not in the lack of political mobilisation. In fact, the “no” campaign was well-organised and quite vocal. The problem was in the credibility and legitimacy of its claim. For instance, references to Christian values were often used in the anti-European rhetoric. However, the greatest authority among the Christian electorate, pope John Paul II, has strongly supported Poland’s membership in the EU. In a speech a few weeks before the accession referendum was held, the pope stressed that Poland had always been an important part of Europe. He acknowledged that many people were concerned that the country’s religious and cultural identity could be compromised, and that the economic disparity was large, but he argued that Poland could not abandon the EU which constituted a family of nations based on a common Christian heritage. 38 37. The Institute of Public Affairs (Instytut Spraw Publicznych) gives a Polish view on various aspects of Poland’s accession to the EU, the shape of an enlarged EU as well as publishing analyses on specific aspects of EU policy. Most are in Polish, but some have been written in English or have English-language summaries. See www.isp.org.pl/indexEN.htm. 38. The pope has called on political leaders and citizens in the EU to place greater emphasis on the spiritual dimension of Europe. Political parties such as Law and Justice (PiS) share this view and are unhappy about the lack of any reference to Christianity or Christian values in the preamble of the draft EU constitution. See also H. SUCHOCKA, Jaka konstytucja dla rozszerzającej się Europy, in: E. POPŁAWSKA (ed.), Konstytucja dla rozszerzającej się Europy, Instytut Spraw Publicznych, Warszawa, 2000.
Poland’s Road to the European Union 17 Anti-European rhetoric also frequently referred to the United States of America as an alternative and supposedly better model of politics, economics and society. However, the United States has been one of the most enthusiastic supporters of Poland’s entry to the EU, both under presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton. This last point also shows that critics of the EU had problems in spelling out any plausible alternative to enlargement. Public opinion surveys show that the trust put in European institutions is generally higher than that in Polish institutions. In 2002 over half of the respondents considered that membership of the EU will have a positive effect on the functioning of Polish public institutions. 39 Finally, the “no” campaign was unable to convince public opinion that the EU accession deal reached in Copenhagen in December 2002 was detrimental to Poland’s overall interests. This leads us to the next important issue: the EU accession process and its outcome. Accession Process: Economics and Geopolitics Poland signed an association agreement with the EC/EU in 1991. This so-called Europe Agreement provided the legal framework for bilateral relations and included a gradual introduction of a free trade area in goods, the liberalisation of the service sector, financial and technical assistance and approximation of legislation with that of the European Community and political dialogue. In 1993 the Copenhagen European council opened up the perspective of enlargement and in 1994 Poland submitted its application for EU membership. Official negotiations with the EU were opened in 1998 and successfully completed in December 2002 in Copenhagen. 40 Poland has been a tough negotiator and at times a difficult partner for the EU. Of course, the economic asymmetry between Poland and the 15 EU-members was enormous. 41 One can also question Poland’s historical and somewhat idealised 39. See Candidate Countries Eurobarometer (2002). European Commission, DG Press and Communication, Public Opinion Analysis at www.europa.eu.int/comm/public_opinion. 40. Accession Negotiations – Poland on the Road to the European Union. Government Plenipotentiary for Poland’s Accession Negotiations to the European Union 2000. English language version available at www.negocjacje.gov.pl/neg/publ/pdf/isgnp_b1.pdf (also available in German). Poland’s position papers for the Accession Negotiations with the European Union. Government Plenipotentiary for Poland’s Accession Negotiations to the European Union 2000. Available in English at www.negocjacje.gov.pl/neg/publ/pdf/isgnp_c2.pdf (also available in German). European Commission (1998-2002). Regular Report(s) from the Commission on Poland’s Progress Towards Accession. At http://europa.eu.int/comm./enlargement/Poland/index.htm. For an in-depth analysis of the role of the Commission in the enlargement of the EU, see G. AVERY and F. CAMERON, The Enlargement of the European Union, Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield 1998. See also D. PYSZNA and K. VIDA, op.cit. 41. E. KAWECKA-WYRZYKOWSKA (ed.), Stosunki Polski z Unią Europejską, Katedra Integracji Europejskiej im. J. Monneta, Szkoła Główna Handlowa, Warszawa, 2002.
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