European Student Think Tank

The import­ance of recent par­lia­ment­ary elec­tions in Poland far exceeded its local lim­it­a­tions. No won­der that the EU member-states and out­side world care­fully and attent­ively observed the vot­ing pro­cess, since the pol­ish people had to determ­ine which for­eign policy vec­tor they would sup­port – pro-EU or anti-EU, neighbor-friendly or regional-defiant? What does this decision mean for the EU? An response to David Grodzki’s assess­ment entiteld “Why Poland’s new old gov­ern­ment is good news for the EU”.

Recent elec­tions in EU mem­ber states have seen the rise of euro­scep­tic parties, often caus­ing even estab­lished pro-European parties to run cam­paigns dis­tan­cing them from the Union. The par­lia­ment­ary elec­tions in Poland between the pro-European gov­ern­ment parties and the national-conservative oppos­i­tion might have turned the tide, as euro­scep­ti­cism has failed to con­vince voters. Five reas­ons why the re-election of the PO-PSL gov­ern­ment is good news for the EU.

The Pol­ish EU-presidency is going to make it one of their pri­or­it­ies, the US and Canada have greatly benefited from tak­ing their chances with it and it might be the solu­tion to more EU energy inde­pend­ence from Rus­sia and Algeria. The talk is of course about shale gas, some­times referred to as uncon­ven­tional gas. While it cer­tainly could con­trib­ute to greater energy secur­ity, there remain doubts over the future pro­spects of shale gas exploit­a­tion in the EU.