Hopes and Fears associated with Poland's Accession to the European Union

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: Sehr Gut, , 11 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: This paper deals with political as well as social hopes and fears associated with the Eastern Enlargement with a focus on Poland; no economic hopes and fears are included in this work. Poland stands as an epitome with a number of analogies to be drawn regarding other new member states in the area. The first section will highlight where Poland sees itself within Europe and portray information networks associated with Poland's EU accession, since they are a major variable in the formation of fears and hopes. The second and third sections deal with hopes and fears, respectively. The last section draws conclusions by comparing the Eastern Enlargement of 2004 to the Southern Enlargement of Greece, Spain and Portugal in the 80s.