Ever since the demise of the Soviet bloc, Poland’s membership in the European Union has enjoyed wide support among the Polish public. In a poll conducted by CBOS in October 2001, 56% of the interviewed responded that they would vote "yes" in a referendum on Poland joining the EU; 24% would vote "no," and the remaining 20% were undecided. Yet this level of support is considerably lower than that recorded in the mid-1990s.

Among Polish political elites, throughout the 1990s, all major parties (post-communist and post-Solidarity alike), shared a virtual consensus in favor of a quick accession to the European and Atlantic structures. Poland achieved one of her major goals in this respect in March 1999, when she was accepted as a member of NATO. Yet in the September 2001 parliamentary election, the Euro-skeptical forces recorded significant gains. From an unquestionable objective of Polish foreign policy, Poland’s membership in the EU has become an object of political debate.

On the level of political elites, the anti-European resentments are voiced in particular by Christian-Democratic and nationalist parties. Fundamentalist Catholicism and ethnic nationalism generate rejection of the EU as allegedly based on "materialism," secularism, and "cosmopolitanism," which, once Poland becomes a member, would destroy her national identity and the religiosity of Polish people. Yet the preliminary evidence from public opinion polls suggests that the variance in the popular attitudes toward European integration stems rather from structural then ideological factors. Pro-European attitudes are positively correlated with social status (education, occupation, income) and place of residence, and negatively with age; Euro-enthusiasts dominate almost completely among well-educated young urban professionals, but remain a minority among poorly educated, older peasants.

This project, using the existing data sets from surveys and public opinion polls, explores both ideological and structural sources of Euroskepticism, to assess the potential of the two generating, under one banner, an orchestrated anti-EU effort before the referendum on Poland’s entry to the EU (scheduled tentatively for 2003).