POLISH ECONOMY $
5. A TRANSITIONAL CONCLUSION
Poland’s entry into the European Union on May 1, 2004 provides a fitting context for a tentative conclusion. The dream of Poland’s full participation in a united Europe, first exemplified by Poland’s membership in NATO and in Poland’s desire to become a member of the European Union, has become a reality. The formal process began early in Poland’s transition, in May 1990, when the government of former Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki submitted its official application for the opening of accession negotiations in Brussels. In order to join the European Union, Poland was required to fulfil stringent economic and political conditions known as the Copenhagen Criteria that were established in 1993. These conditions required that a
prospective member must be a stable democracy, must respect the rule of law, human rights, and the protection of minorities, must have a func- tioning market economy, and must adopt the common rules, standards, and policies (theacquis communitaire) that make up the body of European Union law.
A major step was accomplished on February 1, 1994, when Poland and the European Union signed the European Treaty assuring Poland’s‘‘asso- ciated country status.’’ After a round of intense diplomatic and political summitry, accession negotiations were completed on December 13, 2002 in Copenhagen. It now appears that Poland was able to negotiate final terms that were favorable both to Poland’s domestic and international positions.
Poland and nine additional ‘‘candidate countries’’ formally joined the Eu- ropean Union on May 1, 2004. It is also expected that Poland will be eligible to join the ‘‘euro zone,’’ meeting the so-called Maastricht criteria, and adopting the euro as its medium of exchange, perhaps as early as 2007, but more realistically by 2009 (Taras, 2003;Hunter & Ryan, 2001).
Poland is now a member of the European Union, but four out of five Polish voters stayed at home on the election day. Official results of the National Elections revealed that the turnout was a disappointing 20.87 percent, spread primarily over nine political parties, none of which received more than 24.1 percent of the votes cast (Mierzejewski, 2004). Polls reveal that one-half of the Polish population believe Poland will benefit from membership in the European Union, more than 40 percent of Poles feel that the situation in Poland has ‘‘deteriorated,’’ and only one-third of Poles evidence trust in the European Union to solve their major problems, iden- tified as unemployment and a lack of prospects for an improved economic situation, problems that especially effect Polish youth who may once again experience a strong desire to emigrate in the face of economic and political insecurity.
Admittedly, the benefits of economic transformation have not been spread evenly over Polish society, and there is a widespread view that ma- terialism, consumerism, and secularism have corrupted traditional Polish society and provided nothing in return. Yet, as indicated by almost all accounts and an objective review of statistical data, progress has been steady, if not pronounced. In the midst of both political and economic uncertainty, as well as persistent negatives and positives, one thing is certain.
Possibly no one, other than perhaps Leszek Balcerowicz, the undeniable
‘‘father’’ of most of the fundamental economic changes that have occurred over the past 15 years, would have envisioned the dramatic progress that has taken place in Poland.
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