The political dispute between PiS and PO around the model of European integration

Abstract

The dispute over the model of European integration and around the proposals for reform and change of the European Union, which appear time and again, has become one of the main axes of conflict in Polish politics. The aim of this article is to analyse the political views of the two main actors in this dispute - Law and Justice (PiS - conservative current) and Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (PO - liberal current). Representatives of both ideological currents, despite significant axiological differences, were in favour of European integration. While the Law and Justice party presented a Eurorealist stance, the views of Civic Platform politicians can be described as Euro-enthusiastic. Sharp disagreements arose when the scope and extent of European integration and the model of the EU needed to be clarified, which de facto boiled down to a debate around the role and significance of the nation-state in international relations. The theoretical layer of political thought is particularly exposed in the study, as the acceptance of a realist or liberal paradigm of international relations by the parties studied was tantamount to support for a particular model of the European Union. It also seemed crucial to examine the relevance and importance of political values such as the state and its sovereignty, collective identity or security and their relationship to the desired vision of the EU.