Poland in a nutshell
The article was entitled "Adoption of a struggling giant will be a major test for EU", and took the line that Poland's accession would be an indicator of whether the European Union is ready to consider accepting other heavyweights such as Romania and Turkey. To demonstrate his point, the author started by saying that the next wave of EU expansion would be better described as admitting "Poland and the rest." Poland's population is almost four times that of the Czech Republic, the next largest candidate, and its economy is nearly as big as all of the nine other entrants combined. The sentence "Poland is a land of stunning potential but worrying reality" seemed to hit the nail on the head in a way that many local commentators have not, and highlighting the fact that this country has millions of young, well-educated people hungry for work - and willing to be paid 75 percent less than their West European counterparts - was nothing if not a very accurate comment.
Moving on to the downside, the Brussels-based reporter cited the usual suspects of unemployment, privatization problems and corruption. In a report by Transparency International, Poland was ranked as the most corrupt of the ten candidate countries, and came sixty-fourth in the world, worse than such bastions of accountability as El Salvador and Columbia. Most of us are aware that foreign direct investment (FDI) in Poland fell like a brick last year; however, on a per-capita basis, the Czech Republic enjoyed ?970 of FDI, Slovakia ?976 and Slovenia ?1,000. The per-head figure for Poland last year was just ?110.
Alternatively, on the upside, there's a lot to cheer about. The WSE has risen by 45 percent over the previous twelve months and, as the head of the EU's delegation in Warsaw was quoted, "there's a stronger recovery than anyone expected six months ago." Growth is up to 3.8 percent and still accelerating, exports have risen sharply, and in the first eight months of this year, Poland had a trade surplus with the EU of $205 million. In addition to this, another report has claimed that up to 500,000 jobs will be created in the next five years by EU companies outsourcing back-office work.
The article also dealt with the Polish government's precarious situation and its myriad of problems, not least of all the fact that with only 45 percent of Parliamentary seats, every vote has to be negotiated with the fractious opposition parties. The government's problems stem in a large part from its social obligations: There are 13.8 million unemployed people living on handouts. Figures also show that 2.4 million people - that's six percent of the population - receive a disability payment of some kind. The average for other developing countries is only 1.4 percent.
The author finished with the government's rampant unpopularity, and referenced several polls and surveys, including one that showed that 60 percent of Poles are not only fed up with the current government, but want the entire political establishment swept away. Another seemed to show that Poles are looking abroad for hope; they tell pollsters that they trust NATO and the EU much more than their own institutions. However, as one commentator at a nonprofit organization financed by George Soros put it, "Poles are hoping that Brussels will mend things. This is of course somewhat of an illusion." Well said.
Chris Wells takes an un-hurried hack through what the world's English-language press is saying about Poland
Moving on to the downside, the Brussels-based reporter cited the usual suspects of unemployment, privatization problems and corruption. In a report by Transparency International, Poland was ranked as the most corrupt of the ten candidate countries, and came sixty-fourth in the world, worse than such bastions of accountability as El Salvador and Columbia. Most of us are aware that foreign direct investment (FDI) in Poland fell like a brick last year; however, on a per-capita basis, the Czech Republic enjoyed ?970 of FDI, Slovakia ?976 and Slovenia ?1,000. The per-head figure for Poland last year was just ?110.
Alternatively, on the upside, there's a lot to cheer about. The WSE has risen by 45 percent over the previous twelve months and, as the head of the EU's delegation in Warsaw was quoted, "there's a stronger recovery than anyone expected six months ago." Growth is up to 3.8 percent and still accelerating, exports have risen sharply, and in the first eight months of this year, Poland had a trade surplus with the EU of $205 million. In addition to this, another report has claimed that up to 500,000 jobs will be created in the next five years by EU companies outsourcing back-office work.
The article also dealt with the Polish government's precarious situation and its myriad of problems, not least of all the fact that with only 45 percent of Parliamentary seats, every vote has to be negotiated with the fractious opposition parties. The government's problems stem in a large part from its social obligations: There are 13.8 million unemployed people living on handouts. Figures also show that 2.4 million people - that's six percent of the population - receive a disability payment of some kind. The average for other developing countries is only 1.4 percent.
The author finished with the government's rampant unpopularity, and referenced several polls and surveys, including one that showed that 60 percent of Poles are not only fed up with the current government, but want the entire political establishment swept away. Another seemed to show that Poles are looking abroad for hope; they tell pollsters that they trust NATO and the EU much more than their own institutions. However, as one commentator at a nonprofit organization financed by George Soros put it, "Poles are hoping that Brussels will mend things. This is of course somewhat of an illusion." Well said.
Chris Wells takes an un-hurried hack through what the world's English-language press is saying about Poland
