The seeds of prosperity
There are upshots to experiencing times of political and economic crisis, not the least of which is heightened public awareness of the problems and challenges facing the nation. After several years of economic stagnation and a recent series of embarrassing - and sometimes infuriating - political scandals, the Polish public is acutely aware of the myriad problems facing the country. Already pundits and postulators have suggested that, once the dust has settled from the European Union accession referendum, the country should begin a broad national debate on building a new Fourth Republic to replace the existing one. That option, though, could prove to be specious.
First of all, there is nothing really wrong, as such, with the Third Republic as it is expressed on paper. Creating a Fourth Republic would be a paper change that would do little to alter and improve the situation on the ground. If the problem is corruption, well, any constitution can be corrupted. And if the problem is the economic structure, then a new constitution certainly will not solve anything. It's worthwhile to note that back in the days of the communist People's Republic of Poland the constitution that "governed" the land was so enlightened, progressive and fair that it could put some western European constitutions to shame. The problem was, of course, in the application, and the country that was visible in the streets was very different from the one scripted in the constitution.
So it is unlikely that the country will be embarking on a massive campaign to build a new country; instead, the people of Poland have seized an opportunity for change that is more subtle - European Union accession. In fact, it could be argued that the average Kowalski voted for EU accession, at least in part, because of the recent heightened awareness of the country's problems. Survey after survey conducted prior to the EU referendum indicated that individuals who favored EU accession did so because they believed EU membership would force the government to be more accountable with taxpayers' money; because EU regulations were superior to domestic ones; because the EU, in general, does things better than Poland.
In stark contrast to this is the experience of Estonia, population 1.4 million, former Soviet republic, whose citizens go to the polls on September 14 to decide on whether they, too, will join the European Union. Recently delegates of Estonia's ruling Res Publica party came to Poland to observe and inquire about our EU referendum, and what became apparent is that Estonia's chances for EU accession are being seriously jeopardized precisely because the country has been doing so well for itself recently. In Estonia some 55 percent of the population support EU accession, a margin so thin that members of the ruling party are beginning to voice serious concern about the country's chances.
The reasons for anti-EU sentiment there are very different from the ones we have seen domestically. While in Poland the anti-EU movement was built on a foundation of reactionary and xenophobic sentiment, in Estonia even many entrepreneurs feel that the benefits of the EU fail to outweight the costs. With GDP growth averaging some 6 percent annually over the past several years and high public approval ratings for the government, the Estonian citizenry sees little need for a new level of quasi-government. The EU is perceived as an overbearing technocracy, whose rules and regulations could just as easily hinder Estonia's progress as they could help it. Simply put, the sentiment prevalent among many Estonians is "We don't need them."
In Poland, we need them. Whether or not the EU will live up to people's expectations is a debatable issue, but the one certain thing is that Poland will be better off inside the EU than outside. Strangely enough, our problems proved to be the motivating factors that turned the people towards the EU. Very often it happens that we don't see a problem until it has blown up in our face, and only then do we see what we need to do. So we can thank the scandal-ridden government of Prime Minister Leszek Miller and the unproductive state-owned industries that dot the Polish landscape for inadvertently sowing the seeds of future prosperity.
