Poland and EU membership: Current issues and future prospects

Abstract

Of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe currently seeking EU membership, Poland brings into sharp focus the strengths and weaknesses of the EU's classical method of enlargement This paper explores these strengths and weaknesses by examining how the tools of the EU's pre‐accession strategy, the Europe Agreement, the ‘White Paper on the Internal Market, and the Accession Partnership have leveraged change within Poland. The paper reviews the legal and administrative changes that have already been undertaken as a response to the Europeanisation process. It argues that whilst legal harmonisation is far advanced, more fundamental issues of implementation and enforcement of the acquis remain to be dealt with. The paper concludes that whilst the pre‐accession strategy acts as a discipline on the reform process, it limits the extent to which Polish reform preferences can be accommodated. This will affect the progress of accession negotiations.