Trying to force reforms in the European Union by threatening to begin withdrawal negotiations could end with Poland leaving the bloc, former Polish European affairs minister Jarosław Pietras has warned, describing it as a risky gamble that could jeopardise the country’s prosperity.
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Law and Justice (PiS) leader Jarosław Kaczyński said at a forum in Krynica that the EU needed to change and listed several possible ways of bringing about reform, including influencing public opinion, negotiating a new treaty whose entry into force would be delayed and what he called a „hard and risky” method.
Kaczyński referred to provisions in the EU treaties setting out how a member state can leave the bloc. He said this would begin with negotiations and suggested the approach could be used if other methods failed.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk responded on X, saying Kaczyński had announced that Poland should begin negotiations on the terms of withdrawal from the EU. Tusk said this was among the issues at stake in the current political struggle in Poland.
Pietras said trying to negotiate changes to the EU by initiating the withdrawal process was a very risky gamble. He cited former British Prime Minister David Cameron’s attempt to do so, which ultimately ended in Brexit.
“If one member state makes this an ultimatum, the other 26 countries have a choice: either agree to it, effectively admitting that the country is right, or say: ‘We cannot allow this kind of blackmail to come at our expense. Do whatever you want, but we still want to remain part of the Union,’” Pietras said.
He warned that threatening to begin withdrawal negotiations to force EU reform could result in Poland actually leaving the bloc. He described it as “playing with fire.”
Pietras said every Polish citizen and business would feel the negative effects.
“First of all, customs and passport checks would return at the borders, as Poland would probably not remain in the Schengen area. Poland would not be able to maintain trade with EU countries at its current level. Poles would lose the right to take up legal employment in EU countries on the same terms as before. Overall, this would entail enormous economic and social costs for the country,” he added.
Poland has received more than EUR 273 billion from the EU budget since joining the bloc.
Pietras argued that the benefits Poland derives from membership in the single market far outweigh the value of EU funds received by the country. He said EU membership significantly strengthens its economic foundations.
He said Poland would also suffer a loss of international standing.
“The United Kingdom has still not regained the international standing it held before leaving the EU. I believe it had much greater global influence as a member of the Union than it does today. Poland has never had the same network of international ties as the United Kingdom, so it would find itself in a considerably worse position,” he said.
(sp)
Source: PAP
Radio Poland