Illiberal Concept of EU Reform: Polish Conservative Ideologists in the Debate on Differentiated Integration

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.20.2024.88.1.03

Keywords:

Poland, EU reform, illiberalism, differentiated integration

Abstract

Differentiated integration is the outcome of intergovernmental negotiations resulting from states’ diverse preferences on the European Union’s systemic model. The heterogeneity of states’ preferences is rooted in many factors of differentiation, where economy and ideology play the leading roles. Their specific interconnection contributed to the creation of the Polish conservative vision of European integration proposed by ideologists close to the Law and Justice party. Three main postulates emerged from their opinions: re-constitution, intergovernmental democracy, and de-hierarchization. This article aims to place this EU vision in the context of the debate on differentiated integration. The thesis is the view that Polish ideologists transformed the political ‘vision’ into a hybrid ‘concept’ of differentiation combining temporal, institutionally based, policy-based, and territorial divergencies.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

  • Piotr Tosiek, University of Warsaw, Poland

    Political scientist and lawyer, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, University of Warsaw, Head of the Department of European Union Law and Institutions at this university. His research activity focuses on: theories of European integration, the EU as a political and international system, and the role of member states in the EU decision-making.

References

Ambroziak Ł. et al., How Poland Benefits from the Single Market. Report of the Polish Economic Institute, Warsaw 2023.

Auer S., European Disunion. Democracy, Sovereignty and the Politics of Emergency, London 2022, https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197659601.001.0001. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197659601.001.0001

Bochsler D., Juon A., “Authoritarian Footprints in Central and Eastern Europe,” East European Politics, vol. 36, no. 2 (2020), pp. 167-187, https://doi.org/10.1080/21599165.2019.1698420. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21599165.2019.1698420

Cianciara A.K., “Poland as the New (Awkward) Partner. Differentiated Integration or Differentiated Disintegration?,” in B. Leruth, S. Gänzle, J. Trondal (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Differentiation in the European Union, London–New York 2022, pp. 537-550, https://doi. org/10.4324/9780429054136-36. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429054136-36

Csehi R., Zgut E., “»We Won’t Let Brussels Dictate Us«: Eurosceptic Populism in Hungary and Poland,” European Politics and Society, vol. 22, no. 1 (2021), pp. 53-68, https://doi.org/10.1080/23745118.2020.1717064. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23745118.2020.1717064

Drinóczi T., Bień-Kacała A., “Illiberal Constitutionalism: The Case of Hungary and Poland,” German Law Journal, vol. 20, no. 8 (2019), pp. 1140-1166, https://doi.org/10.1017/glj.2019.83. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/glj.2019.83

Folvarčny A., Kopeček L., “Which Conservatism? The Identity of the Polish Law and Justice Party,” Politics in Central Europe, vol. 16, no. 1 (2020), pp. 159-188, https://doi. org/10.2478/pce-2020-0008. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pce-2020-0008

“GDP per capita in PPS,” http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&lang uage=en&pcode=tec00114&plugin=1.

“GDP per capita in PPS,” https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tec00114/default/ table?lang+en.

“GDP per capita in PPS,” https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/TEC00114/default/table?lang=en.

“Gross Domestic Product at Market Prices,” https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/TEC00001/default/bar?lang=en.

Grosse T.G., “Podsumowanie. W kierunku teorii dezintegracji regionalnej,” in T.G. Grosse (ed.), Polityki europejskie w dobie kryzysu, Warszawa 2016, pp. 293-302.

Grosse T.G., “Propozycje kierunkowych zmian traktatów unijnych,” in M. Romanowski, J. Szymanek (eds.), Wizje przyszłości Unii Europejskiej, Warszawa 2022, pp. 33-54.

Grosse T.G, Krysiak Z., The Balance of Financial Transfers between the European Union and Poland, Warsaw 2021.

Gruszczak A., “Internal Rebordering in the European Union: Postfunctionalism Revisited,” Politics and Governance, vol. 10, no. 2 (2022), pp. 246-255, https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v10i2.5165. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v10i2.5165

Häge F.M., Decision-Making in the Council of the European Union: the Role of Committees, Leiden 2008.

Havlík V., Hloušek V., “Differential Illiberalism: Classifying Illiberal Trends in Central European Party Politics,” in A. Lorenz, L.H. Anders (eds.), Illiberal Trends and Anti-EU Politics in East Central Europe, Cham 2021, pp. 111-136, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54674-8_5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54674-8_5

Hidalgo O., “Religious Backgrounds of Illiberal Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe,” Religion and Society in Central and Eastern Europe, vol. 12, no. 1 (2019), pp. 3-21. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20413/rascee.2019.12.1.3-21

Holzinger K., Schimmelfennig F., “Differentiated Integration in the European Union: Many Concepts, Sparse Theory, Few Data,” Journal of European Public Policy, vol. 19, no. 2 (2012), pp. 292-305, https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2012.641747. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2012.641747

Hooghe L., Marks G., “A Postfunctionalist Theory of European Integration: From Permissive Consensus to Constraining Dissensus,” British Journal of Political Science, vol. 39, no. 1 (2009), pp. 1-23, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123408000409. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123408000409

Jasiecki K., “»Conservative Modernization« and the Rise of Law and Justice in Poland,” in K. Bluhm, M. Varga (eds.), New Conservatives in Russia and Central Europe, London 2018, pp. 130-153, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351020305-7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351020305-7

Leruth B., Gänzle S., Trondal J., “Introduction: Differentiation in the European Union as a Field of Study,” in B. Leruth, S. Gänzle, J. Trondal (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Differentiation in the European Union, London–New York 2022, pp. 1-16, https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429054136-1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429054136-1

Lorenz A., Anders L.H., “Illiberal Trends and Anti–EU Politics in East Central Europe: Major Findings and Avenues for Future Research,” in A. Lorenz, L.H. Anders (eds), Illiberal Trends and Anti-EU Politics in East Central Europe, Cham 2021, pp 323-347, https://doi. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54674-8_14

org/10.1007/978-3-030-54674-8_14.

Moravcsik A., “Preferences, Power and Institutions in 21st-Century Europe,” Journal of Common Market Studies, vol. 56, no. 7 (2018), pp. 1648-1674, https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.12804. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.12804

Moravcsik A., “The European Constitutional Settlement,” The World Economy, vol. 31, no. 1 (2008), pp. 158-183, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9701.2007.01086.x. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9701.2007.01086.x

Moravcsik A., Nicolaïdis K., “Explaining the Treaty of Amsterdam: Interests, Influence, Institutions,” Journal of Common Market Studies, vol. 37, no. 1 (1999), pp. 59-85, https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5965.00150. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5965.00150

Paruch W., Realizm i wartości. Prawo i Sprawiedliwość o polityce zagranicznej, Lublin 2021, https://doi.org/10.36874/M21443. DOI: https://doi.org/10.36874/M21443

Pietraś Z.J., Decydowanie polityczne, Warszawa–Kraków 1998.

Pietrzyk-Reeves D., “Tradycja republikańska, respublica, republikanizm,” Horyzonty Polityki, no. 7 (2014), pp. 47-67.

Romanowski M., “Kierunki zmian instytucjonalnych w Unii Europejskiej,” in M. Romanowski, J. Szymanek (eds.), Wizje przyszłości Unii Europejskiej, Warszawa 2022, pp. 21-32, https://doi.org/10.52694/MSWWS.28. DOI: https://doi.org/10.52694/MSWWS.28

Sanecka-Tyczyńska J., “Między mocarstwowością a peryferyjnością. Międzynarodowa pozycja Polski w XXI wieku w narodowej i konserwatywnej refleksji politycznej,” Polityka i Społeczeństwo, no. 3(19) (2021), pp. 110-128, https://doi.org/10.15584/polispol.2021.3.8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15584/polispol.2021.3.8

Schimmelfennig F., Graded Membership in the European Union: Good Governance and Differentiated Integration, Berlin 2016, KFG Working Paper Series, no. 73.

Schimmelfennig F., Winzen T., “Grand Theories, Differentiated Integration,” Journal of European Public Policy, vol. 26, no. 8 (2019), pp. 1172-1192, https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2019.1576761. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2019.1576761

Steven M., Szczerbiak A., “Conservatism and ‘Eurorealism’ in the European Parliament: The European Conservatives and Reformists under the Leadership of Poland’s Law and Justice,” European Politics and Society, vol. 24, no. 5 (2023), pp. 585-602, https://doi.org/10.1080/23745118.2022.2065725. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23745118.2022.2065725

Stubb, A., “A Categorization of Differentiated Integration,” Journal of Common Market Studies, vol. 34, no. 2 (1996), pp. 283-295, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5965.1996.tb00573.x. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5965.1996.tb00573.x

Szczerski K., Utopia europejska. Kryzys integracji i polska inicjatywa naprawy, Kraków 2017.

Tosiek, P., “Illiberal Neo-Intergovernmentalism: Poland’s Conservative Idea for the European Union?,” Politics in Central Europe, vol. 19, no. 4 (2023), pp. 791-816, https://doi.org/10.2478/pce-2023-0035. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pce-2023-0035

Tosiek P., “Integracja zróżnicowana jako cecha systemowa Unii Europejskiej. Perspektywa liberalno-międzyrządowa,” in M. Golińczak, R. Klementowski (eds.), Europa wielu prędkości. Problemy. Wyzwania. Konsekwencje, Wrocław–Warszawa 2021, pp. 53-68.

Tosiek, P., Member State in the Decision-Making System of the European Union. The Example of Poland, Lublin 2018.

Tosiek P., “Polska wizja ‘rekonstytucji’ Unii Europejskiej: nowy model integracji zróżnicowanej?,” Przegląd Europejski, no. 3 (2017), pp. 39-56.

“Transfery finansowe Polska – budżet UE,” https://www.gov.pl/web/finanse/transfery-polska-ue-unia-europejska.

Verovšek P.J., “Caught between 1945 and 1989: Collective Memory and the Rise of Illiberal Democracy in Post-Communist Europe,” Journal of European Public Policy, vol. 28, no. 6 (2021), pp. 840-857, https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2020.1768279. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2020.1768279

Wodak R., “Entering the ‘Post-Shame Era’: the Rise of Illiberal Democracy, Populism and Neo-Authoritarianism in Europe,” Global Discourse, vol. 9, no. 1 (2019), pp. 195-213, https://doi.org/10.1332/204378919X15470487645420. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1332/204378919X15470487645420

Downloads

Published

01-07-2024

Issue

Section

Część 1. Reforma ustrojowa Unii Europejskiej (2010-2023)

How to Cite

“Illiberal Concept of EU Reform: Polish Conservative Ideologists in the Debate on Differentiated Integration”. 2024. Politeja 21 (1(88/1): 41-55. https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.20.2024.88.1.03.

Similar Articles

1-10 of 694

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.