Poland in the EU: Evaluating the First Three Years of Membership

Polish Embassy, 16 to 17 November 2007

Over the past three years, the Polish government’s European policy has been a source of considerable controversy and has been widely criticised. This conference on Poland in the EU took place three weeks after this autumn’s pre-term parliamentary elections in Poland and provided the opportunity not only for an expert assessment of the initial phase of membership, but also to look forward to the European policy of the government that was sworn into office on the morning of the first day of the conference. The event was organized by Prof. Aleks Szczerbiak, Prof. Alan Mayhew from the Sussex European Institute and Dr. Nathaniel Copsey from the European Research Institute of the University of Birmingham.

The conference focused on political and economic aspects of Polish membership, with speakers from Polish government ministries, the Senate of Poland, the National Bank of Poland, as well as various think tanks and universities. Keynote speakers included Marek Cichocki, the President of Poland’s adviser on foreign policy, and Jarek Pietras, former under secretary of state for European integration. A full programme available here.

Our future aim is for the conference to serve as a springboard for the establishement of a Polish-British forum, which would meet annually to discuss matters of concern to both countries, with a non-exclusive focus on the EU. If you would like more information about this, please contact Dr Nathaniel Copsey at the University of Birmingham n.copsey@bham.ac.uk

We are extremely grateful to our sponsors the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Centre for East European Language-Based Studies (CEELBAS) and the Sussex European Institute without whose support this event would not be possible.

POLAND AND THE EU:

EVALUATING THE FIRST THREE YEARS OF MEMBERSHIP

November 16th/17th

Venue: Polish Embassy, London

DAY 1

Friday November 16th

11.00 am Welcome and Introduction to the Conference: Aleks Szczerbiak

11.05 am Opening address CHAIR: Prof George Kolankiewicz (School of Slavonic and East European Studies/UCL)

Ambassador HE Ms Barbara Tuge-Erecińska

11.30am-1pm

Session 1 (Politics: Public Opinion, Parties and Electoral Politics): CHAIR George Kolankiewicz

Prof Aleks Szczerbiak (Sussex European Institute) – Why do Poles love the EU but vote for Eurosceptic parties?

Dr Jacek Kucharczyk (Instytut Spraw Publicznych) – The Europeanization of Polish parties

Simona Guerra (Sussex European Institute) – Ask the people: Focus group research on Polish attitudes towards the EU

1pm-2.15pm Lunch

2.15pm-3.45pm

Session 2 (Politics: Institutional adaptation/Governance) CHAIR Nat Copsey

Dr Artur Nowak-Far (Warsaw School of Economics) – A 2007 survey of the EU policy co-ordination system in Poland: Findings and conclusions

Jowanka Jakubek (University of Warsaw) – Recent developments in Poland’s EU policy co-ordination: comparing the pre- and post-accession periods

Dr Leszek Kieniewicz (Senate Office for International and EU Affairs) – The scrutiny of EU legislation by the Polish parliament

3.45pm-4.00pm Coffee

4.00 pm-5.30pm

Session 3 (Economy: Macro-economic impacts) CHAIR Jim Rollo (or Nat Copsey)

Dr Tomasz Ciszak (National Bank of Poland) – Macro-economic policy performance since accession

Dr Tomasz Mickiewicz (School of Slavonic and East European Studies/UCL) – Will the Last Electrician Turn Off the Light Before Leaving: Polish Labour Markets in the EU Perspective

Prof Alan Mayhew (Sussex European Institute) – Poland and the Eurozone – when will Poland be at the heart of Europe?

5.30-6.30pm Reception (then Hotel ??andDinner ??)

8.00pm Dinner for guest speakers/VIPs

Keynote speech by Jarosław Pietras, Former Secretary of State and Head of the Office of the Committee for European Integration: Introduced by Alan Mayhew

DAY 2

Saturday November 17th

9.30am-11.00am

Session 4 (Economy: Sectoral developments) CHAIR: Alan Mayhew

Waldemar Guba (Ministry of Agriculture) – The development of Polish agriculture and the EU

Piotr Zuber (Ministry of Regional Development) – Poland’s Development Policy and EU Structural Funds (tbc)

Piotr Serafin (Office of the Committee for European Integration) – Poland and economic reform in the EU

11.00am-11.15am Coffee

11.15am-12.45pm

Session 5 (Poland’s impact in EU institutions) CHAIR: Aleks Szczerbiak

Jacek Kucharczyk (Institute of Public Affairs) Poland’s new MEPs

Melchior Szczepanik (Loughborough University) – The EP after enlargement: Polish MEPs and their impact on the political life of the chamber

Karolina Pomorska (University of Maastricht) – The Europeanisation of Polish diplomacy and diplomats in the Council of Ministers

12.45-2.00pm Lunch

2.00-2.45pm Session 6 (Poland’s EU agenda) : CHAIR : Alan Mayhew

Dr Nat Copsey (University of Birmingham) – Poland and the European Neighbourhood Policy

Piotr Serafin (Office of the Committee for European Integration) – Which position for Poland in the EU budget review?

2.45-3.15pm

Keynote address

Dr Marek Cichocki (Natolin Foundation) - Three years of Polish membership in the EU - a step to reunify Europe? : CHAIR and Close Aleks Szczerbiak

CLOSE