A United Front: European Union Enlargement, the Common Agricultural Policy, and Polish Agriculture

The EU has a long history of successful enlargements. In 1957, six founding members -Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands - signed the Treaty of Rome. Since then, four enlargement waves have followed. However, the enlargement facing the EU today is without precedent in terms of scope and diversity. In particular, the EU has never before faced the proposition of a Polish candidacy and its agricultural sector. For their part, Poland and other candidate countries still have work to do in preparing for accession. Further, reform and modernisation of the Polish agricultural sector are necessary. Political management will be required from both Brussels and Warsaw. The paper provides a detailed background of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) as well as an overview of Polish agriculture and forecasts potential assimilation problems and their solutions.