ABSTRACT
Accession to the European Union was not a contentious issue in Polish politics between its first mooting in 1989 and the EU’S own affirmation in December 1997 that Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia and Slovenia (and Cyprus) had met the conditions for the inauguration of formal accession negotiations. Political elites saw membership as a political and economic imperative and a key element of the much heralded “return to Europe”. Each government and every successive foreign minister reiterated Poland’s strong commitment to the EU. Public opinion was also highly supportive of EU membership: in Polish surveys, 77 per cent of respondents favoured accession in June 1994, 72 per cent in May 1995 and 80 per cent in May 1996.1 The consensus appeared overwhelming and continuous from 1989 to the EU’S “Luxembourg invitation” to begin formal negotiations. It was not, however, a reflection of widespread public knowledge or public discussion: given the virtual absence of debate, and the reporting of EU matters largely in technical economic or financial terms, public support stemmed from instinctive desires to join a “rich countries’ club” and the presumption that economic benefit would derive from the association. The major polling organization CBOS referred to the shaping of public opinion by “a combination of myths, stereotypes, anxieties and hopes”.2 Indeed, in late 1997 it was not possible to predict a smooth untroubled process of negotiation, ratification and public endorsement by referendum for membership around 2002. As always, the devil lay in the details.
