Poland

This report aims to provide a synthetic description of the mechanism and course of accession negotiations effected by Poland with the European Union in order to become a member of this organisation. The author discusses the genesis and development of the negotiation process, the conditions necessary for both parties to meet, the legal and institutional framework, and also – which is a particularly important element of this study – the difficulties and problems related to Poland’s adaptation to the requirements set by the ‘Old Union’ countries. The report is divided into two parts: (1) the requirements laid upon the candidate countries before the accession process started and before they joined the EU; (2) the legal aspects of the procedure of accession, and is prepared in the form of questions and answers. Its main research assumption aims to show the specificity of Polish accession negotiations.