Opinion Piece by Melvyn Mangion
Following Poland’s signature to the Treaty of Accession in Athens on 16 April 2003, the Polish Government concentrated their efforts on bringing about an affirmative outcome to the impending referendum on EU accession. More than three-quarters of those who took part in Poland’s referendum on EU membership in June 2003 voted in favour, and Poland joined in the EU on 1 May 2004.
Poland supports the further enlargement of the EU. The Polish government was a staunch supporter of both Bulgaria’s and Romania’s accession to the EU on 1 January 2007 and suggested that the 25-member bloc should keep on expanding. Poland also voiced its support for Turkey’s EU membership stating that the criteria which were applied to other countries during the accession negotiations should be equally applied to Turkey. On 18 June 2007, Poland also expressed its support for Croatia to join the EU following an official visit by the President of the Croatian Parliament, Vladimir Seks, to Poland.
Poland is one of the six countries that advocated the enshrinement of Europe’s Christian roots in the EU’s Constitutional Treaty. Poland, along with Britain and the Czech Republic, was widely seen as the most sceptical among EU countries towards any quick agreement on a treaty to replace the bloc’s constitution rejected three years ago in Dutch and French referendums. It has also indefinitely delayed a referendum on the EU Constitution, after the text was dealt a blow by French and Dutch no votes. The Polish government had long voiced its discontent over the text of the proposed European Constitution, especially concerning voting rights for the new member states and the surrendering of more powers to EU institutions. Following a visit to Warsaw by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in March 2007, President Lech Kaczynski agreed that Poland will sign the Berlin Declaration allowing for more negotiations on a European Constitution. In May 2007, FM Fotyga stated that Poland was ‘cautiously optimistic’ that the EU members will be able reach an agreement on a new text to replace the EU Constitution. FM Fotyga stated that Poland felt that a new EU treaty should grant greater law making ability or competencies to EU member States on their own. On 13 June 2007, Polish PM Kaczynski stated he was standing firm on his country’s opposition to the voting system in the EU draft constitution, adding however that Poland was ready to compromise but will not surrender.
During the EU summit held in Brussels on 21–22 June 2007, a last-minute deal was struck with Poland agreeing to a compromise, namely that even though the new treaty is supposed to become effective from 2009, the heads of EU member states agreed that the present EU Council voting system, introduced by the Treaty of Nice and advantageous to Poland, would remain in force until 2014. Only then will it be replaced by a double-majority voting system, but over the following three years, every country will be entitled to demand another vote to be conducted under the old Nice system, and a country like Poland will be able to block a decision by teaming up with a major EU state.
During the July 2007 GAERC session, the Polish Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga dropped a demand that countries should be able to delay any contentious decisions for up to two years, a move that would have effectively dangled a veto over key EU policies. She said Poland would not insist on opening the discussion on the new EU voting system. However, Poland was nevertheless considering joining Britain in opting out of the legally binding force of a European charter of fundamental rights.
In a statement released to the media by the Polish Foreign Ministry on the 14th September 2007, Poland officially announced that it would join the U.K. and opt out of the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights. The Polish Foreign Ministry said Poland would also press for the so-called Ioannina mechanism in the new treaty, which allows for temporarily blocking EU decisions when a small number of EU countries disagree. Warsaw does not want the clause to be merely mentioned in an annex as planned in the current draft. The Ioannina provision would compensate Poland’s relative loss of influence in the new weighting mechanism provided for by the treaty from 2017.
In October 2007, agreement was reached on the final text of the EU Treaty, which was signed in Lisbon in December 2008 by the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski. The inclusion of the Ioannina mechanism, as requested by Poland, was not taken however taken up. Poland also opted-out of the Charter of Fundamental Human Rights, as the Polish government had reservations regarding issues related to the right to life. According to many Polish politicians, the charter does not provide a sufficiently clear definition of the right to life, rendering unclear important moral questions — such as whether citizens have the right to euthanasia and abortion — remain.
Another recent development which was a cause of tension within the EU is Poland’s dropping of Poland’s veto the establishment of a European day against the death penalty. The Euro-sceptic government of Jaroslaw Kaczynski had blocked the move for months, saying such an event should also condemn abortion and euthanasia. Kaczynski and his twin brother, President Lech Kaczynski, spoke out personally in favour of the death penalty but did not try to restore it while in power. The centre-right Civic platform party led by Donald Tusk has taken a more pro-European stance, resulting in a lifting of the veto.
On 1st April 2008, the Lisbon Treaty was ratified by the Sejm and on the following day by the Senate.
Read further at www.melvynmangion.com
