The East of the West, or the West of the East? Attitudes toward the European Union and European Integration in Poland after 2008

Abstract

Through the lens of modernization theories, the process of European integration can be perceived as Poland’s second modernization, following the systemic transformation in the nineties. In this article, we analyze the divergent perceptions of the European Union, and attitudes toward European integration, as they coexist within contemporary Polish society. We introduce the notion of European integration as a triple modernization, encompassing economic, institutional, and cultural changes. Using a mixed methods approach based on qualitative and quantitative data from the European Values Study 2017, we demonstrate that Poles generally accept the peripheral status of Poland in the economic context and expect financial support from the core of the EU. Simultaneously, within the cultural context, there exists a marginal but salient attitude that is based on opposition toward cultural pressures and on a claim to an active role in the shaping of the European axiological agenda. Distinguishing the three aspects of this general process of European integration allows for the identification of the source of tensions that are described in literature as cross-European populist tendencies to question the very idea of European integration in member societies of the EU.