Opposition Pays
Polish Agriculture and EU Agrarian Policy
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
For a long time, Polish peasants were considered the group that could cause Poland’s EU accession to fail. Therefore, the peasants’ yes-vote in the 2003 referendum was outright bought. The benefits they were able to glean from the Polish and EU budgets are so great that former EU-sceptics have become EU-enthusiasts. At the same time, these benefits inhibited structural change, reversed urbanisation trends, and strengthened resistance to reform.
(Osteuropa 5-6/2011, pp. 125–140)