ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the influence of Poland’s membership in the European Union (EU) on Poland’s society. It analyzes the main social effects of Polish membership in the EU, focusing on the migration processes. Foreigners who have EU citizenship should enjoy equal treatment with nationals in access to employment, working conditions, and all other social advantages. The freedom of movement of workers is an important factor in European labor migration. Poland has become a leader when it comes to posted workers. Post-accession emigration differs from previous waves of migration in several important aspects, inter alia destination of emigration, type of migration, and age of migrants. Accession to the EU and the consequent opening of the Union’s job markets to Polish workers created a significant increase in the stream of migration from Poland. The free movement of persons is not the only result of membership of the European Union for Polish citizens.
