Pro-Europeans and ‘Euro-Realists’: The Party-Voters Linkage and Parties’ Political Agendas in Poland, 2004–2019

Abstract

Poland’s European policy and its struggles with EU institutions since 2015 may lead to the conviction that the country’s illiberal turn is accompanied by a process of de-Europeanisation which is fostered by the government to undermine the country’s presence in the EU. Drawing on the party-voters linkage concept, this chapter examines whether such assumptions can be confirmed. It covers societal attitudes and manifestos of the main ruling party and main opposition parties in Poland, PO and PiS, in the period from 2004 to 2019. The chapter shows that party manifestos do not show signs of radical de-Europeanisation (like, for example, calls for withdrawal from the EU) but a limited refocusing of EU issues. One exception was PiS’s open rejection to accept the Euro currency in the future. This mixed strategy is explained by differentiated positions among the party’s electorate over EU issues.