journal of european integration history revue d'histoire de l ...
journal of european integration history revue d'histoire de l ...
journal of european integration history revue d'histoire de l ...
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Poland’s Road to the European Union 23<br />
accession in 2004. This was seen as being <strong>de</strong>trimental to Poland’s agricultural<br />
interests and difficult to sell at home in view <strong>of</strong> the forthcoming accession<br />
referendum. At the Copenhagen summit in 2002 Polish prime minister Miller ma<strong>de</strong><br />
a last minute stand on direct payments to farmers, milk quotas and other issues. 66<br />
As mentioned earlier, the EU ma<strong>de</strong> some concessions to Poland after chancellor<br />
Schroe<strong>de</strong>r’s intervention.<br />
The final <strong>de</strong>al reached in Copenhagen pleased not only peasants but also larger<br />
sectors <strong>of</strong> Poland’s public opinion, helping the government to win the accession<br />
referendum a few months later. However, there was so much haggling and talk<br />
about money at the Copenhagen summit, that a number <strong>of</strong> prominent former<br />
dissi<strong>de</strong>nts and intellectuals were prompted to remind European lea<strong>de</strong>rs that<br />
“the original i<strong>de</strong>a <strong>of</strong> solidarity in a united and <strong>de</strong>mocratic Europe should not be<br />
buried un<strong>de</strong>r the negotiations and group and local lobby interests”. 67<br />
Conclusions: Poland as a New EU Member<br />
If Poland’s <strong>history</strong> shaped the character <strong>of</strong> its application to the EU, it is also true<br />
that the application process may well shape the nature <strong>of</strong> its future membership.<br />
Due to its size, 38.6 million inhabitants and larger than all the other nine acceding<br />
countries put together, Poland sees itself as a leading player in the current<br />
enlargement and it has ambitions to take up a strong position in the EU<br />
<strong>de</strong>cision-making process. It would like to form part <strong>of</strong> a group <strong>of</strong> the largest (six)<br />
countries. In the run up to the 2003 IGC (Intergovernmental Conference) it sought<br />
the support <strong>of</strong> Spain to lobby for maintaining the Nice Treaty distribution <strong>of</strong> votes<br />
which grants the two countries 27 votes each in the council <strong>of</strong> ministers, thus<br />
putting them within the reach <strong>of</strong> the largest countries with 29 votes each. 68<br />
Polish politicians have repeatedly stated that the new members must be treated<br />
equally in the enlarged EU. Poland would be likely to try to counter any attempt at<br />
forming a “core” EU <strong>of</strong> the original six members around a French-German axis.<br />
Although the creation <strong>of</strong> the Weimar Triangle in 1991 had appeared to point to<br />
intensive trilateral contacts, the division into the so-called old and new Europe has<br />
left Poland in the much looser coalition <strong>of</strong> London-Madrid-Rome. The distance<br />
between Paris and Warsaw is getting greater and even the much vaunted<br />
relationship with Germany appears to be weakening. Nevertheless, as the largest<br />
and geo-strategically most important <strong>of</strong> the new members, Poland is eager to be<br />
inclu<strong>de</strong>d in what it perceives as the “core” <strong>of</strong> the wi<strong>de</strong>r European structure. One <strong>of</strong><br />
the un<strong>de</strong>rlying reasons for Poland’s attitu<strong>de</strong> is the conviction that, had it not been<br />
66. M. KACZOROWSKA, EU Negotiations: Milking an Issue, in: The Warsaw Voice, December 15 th<br />
2002, p.5.<br />
67. Letter, in: Gazeta Wyborcza, 12 December 2002.<br />
68. W. CIMOSZEWICZ and ANA PALACIO, How to keep the balance in Europe’s new treaty, in:<br />
Financial Times, September 26 th 2003, p.23.