Conference "Our Europe: 15 years of Poland in the European Union"

On May 16, a joint conference of CASE and the Institute of Economics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (INE PAN) was held in Warsaw. During the conference, the CASE report  "Our Europe: 15 years of Poland in the European Union" was presented to a wider audience for the first time. This report was the result of the joint work of a number of experts from various fields who have been - for many years – analyzing the multidimensional effects of EU institutions and cooperation with Member States pursuant to European values and mechanisms. The authors summarize the benefits of Poland’s membership in the EU based on facts; however, they do not hide their own views and reflections. They also demonstrate the barriers and challenges to further European integration.

The welcoming speeches, provided by CASE’s President, Izabela Styczyńska, Prof. Andrzej Szablewski director of INE PAN,  Prof. Barbara Błaszczyk, Vice-President of the CASE Supervisory Council, and Dr. Przemysław Kowalski, CASE Expert, discussed how membership in the European Union had changed Poland.

Dr. Izabela Styczyńska, pointed out that the report was a part of the year-long "Our Europe" project, under which CASE also initiated at the beginning of the year a coalition of think tanks, consisting of the best independent Polish institutions. “Our activities have two important goals: celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of Poland's accession to the European Union by providing and popularizing high quality analyses, and promoting the value of an economically and institutionally integrated Europe, as well as deepening cooperation among think tanks,” said Dr. Styczyńska.

The first session entitled European values, freedoms and institutions was moderated by Prof. Jerzy Osiatyński from INE PAN. Presentations in this session were focused on institutions and mechanisms of European integration, four freedoms in the EU (movement of goods, persons, services and capital within the EU),  social agenda of the EU, and higher education. Among the speakers were  prof. Jerzy Wilki, prof. Stanisława Golinowska, prof. Paweł Kaczmarczyk, prof. Jan J. Michałek, Andrzej Halesiak, and prof. Urszula Sztanderska.

The second session EU sectoral policies and challenges of european integration, moderated by Dr. Dariusz Ledworowki, member of the CASE Supervisory Council, featured seven presentations on various topics ranging from agriculture, manufacturing, and energy  to challenges of the single market. Among the speakers were: dr. Katarzyna Zawalińska, dr. andrzej Cylwik, dr. Przemysław Kowalski, prof. Maciej Nowicki, prof. Tomasz Komornicki, dr. Joanna Konieczna-Sałamatin, and prof. Paweł Wojciechowski.

Photos: Nino Sichinava