Costs and benefits of Poland’s membership in the European Union

Abstract:

The paper analyses the costs and benefits of Poland's membership in the European Union. It also analyses an alternative scenario, which assumes that Poland fails to join the European Union. The report presents two scenarios of the consequences (costs and benefits) of membership, taking into account the final results of accession negotiations.

The consequences of Poland's integration with the European Union are analysed with respect to the three current pillars of EU policies. The analysis of the first pillar covers the most important Community policies. The benefits and costs of integration are thoroughly analysed in the areas of agriculture, social policy, environmental protection policy, research and development policy, trade policy, competition policy, transport policy, education and human resources.

The paper also focuses on the other two pillars - the Common Foreign and Security Policy (including the creation of the framework for the European Security and Defence Policy) and internal security, co-operation in the area of the judiciary, the police and the customs. Here, the most important thing is the attempt to answer the question of what the political and institutional benefits of EU membership would be for Poland.

The last section of the publication deals with social communication. It analyses the social consequences of membership of the EU and the public perceptions of these consequences.