Almost half of Poles want referendum on EU membership

Almost half of Poles would like a referendum to be held on the country’s membership of the European Union. But a majority declare that they would vote in favour of remaining in the bloc.

The new poll by SW Research for the Rzeczpospolita daily found that 42.6% of the public think there should be a referendum, while 36.9% believe that there should not. The remaining 20.5% have no opinion.

Asked how they would vote if such a referendum were held now, 64.4% of respondents said they would be in favour of Poland remaining in the EU while only 14.8% would choose to leave. A further 6.7% said they would not take part and 14.1% did not know how they would vote.

The findings come amid an intense debate over Poland’s relationship with Brussels. The pro-EU opposition, and in particular the centrist Civic Platform (PO) party, argues that the government is leading the country towards “Polexit” from the EU.

It recently held mass protests in response to a constitutional court ruling that found parts of EU treaties incompatible with Polish law. Some scholars say that the ruling could effectively mean “legal Polexit” from the EU.

But the government, led by the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, argues that the idea of Polexit is “fake news” created by the opposition.

PiS says it has no desire for Poland to leave the EU. It merely wants to prevent illegitimate “interference” by European institutions, which it argues are increasingly going beyond their remit and violating national sovereignty.

Opinion polls have consistently shown that a large majority of Poles favour remaining in the EU. Poland is the largest net beneficiary of European funds in absolute terms, and millions of Poles have taken advantage of the bloc’s freedom of movement to live and work in other countries.

However, some Polish eurosceptics – including United Poland (Solidarna Polska), a junior partner in the ruling coalition – argue that the country loses out financially from EU membership, for example through the repatriation of funds by western businesses. Economists have shown such claims to be baseless.

Recent years have seen regular conflict between Brussels and the PiS government. The Polish justice minister recently accused the EU of leading a “hybrid war” against Poland. Senior PiS officials have promised to “fight the Brussels occupier” and pointed to the example of Brexit as a possible “drastic solution”.

One poll earlier this year found the highest level of support in Poland for leaving the EU in over 16 years. However, the proportion wishing to leave still numbered only 17%.

Main image credit: Jakub Orzechowski / Agencja Gazeta

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.