Before a Historic Test
Poland’s Europe Policy at a Turning Point
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
The domestic political changes under the government of the Law and Justice party has caused certitudes about Poland’s role in the European Union to totter. Yesterday’s model
pupil is now creating serious problems. This is proven by the launching of rule of law proceedings against Poland over its Constitutional Court Law. The refugee crisis shows that European solidarity no longer works. This has led to disillusionment in Brussels and Berlin. But in energy, neighbourhood, and Russia policy, as well as in the controversy surrounding the gas pipeline Nord Stream 2, Poland needs precisely these two partners. Poland is at risk of structural marginalisation within the EU, because it is withdrawing from central fields of policy, such as the euro, Schengen border agreement, and asylum policy. The Law and Justice camp is increasingly calling into question EU mechanisms of functioning. Simultaneously, Europe’s positive image in society is eroding. Poland’s European calling faces a historic test.
(Osteuropa 1-2/2016, pp. 177–190)