When I sat to write this column (on May 15), Poland was a full-fledged member of the European Union for 15 days. When this column gets printed and posted on the Web (at the beginning of June), Poland will pass her first political test in the EU. The European Parliament Elections will be held between 10-13 June 2004, in Poland on June 13. In all, 732 members of the European Parliament are to be elected from the 25 EU Member states. In the European Parliament Poland will have 54 seats. A sizable representation, the same as Spain (54) but smaller than Germany (99), France, Italy and United Kingdom (78 each), but much larger than Czech Republic (25) or Hungary (24), Sweden (19) or Austria (18). The number of seats are proportional to the population of each of the 25 countries forming the European Union. But the European Parliament is not organized according to the representations of the member states. Polish MEPs (Members of European Parliament) will have to choose one of the 8 different political groups: from the largest EPP-ED (European People’s Party-European Democrats) to the smallest NA (Non-attached).

When Poland officially joined the EU, on the 1^st of May 2004, Polish MPs were already there and took the floor. Acting as observers, not yet elected MEPs, they presented a Polish point of view about the present and future European Union. What they accented the most was the absence of God and Christian tradition in the draft of the European Constitution. One of the Polish MPs even offered a Holy Cross to the European Parliament, similar to the one hanging on the wall in the Polish Parliament, The Sejm. They also brought with them a bounty of Polish domestic politics of many shades. A show of typical Polish dissident opinion was demonstrated during the voting for a Polish candidate for the post of Comissioner of the EU, Mrs. Danuta Huebner. When many foreign MEPs voted for her, a dissident Polish group opposed her election. She got the post, anyway.

The European Parliament is one of the most important institutions of the united Europe, now embracing 25 states and some 450 million citizens (the “old” 15-member EU had 374 million citizens). The Parliament has three major roles: the power to legislate, democratic supervision, and the power of the purse. A future group of 54 Polish MEPs will have a say in this European institution. It is important then, which people will get elected and whom they will represent.

The election campaign for the European Parliament is an important test before the next general election in Poland, that might come even as early as the 8^th of August 2004. Therefore all major political parties in the country are taking these elections very seriously – they want to win and place as many of their candidates as possible in the EP. But, as happens in Polish politics, almost 1800 candidates representing over 30 political electoral committees are competing for the mere 54 seats. The level of competence, education, or knowledge of foreign languages doesn’t seem to be relevant, while personal popularity or a strong party backing plays a leading role. Therefore, among the candidates from the top political parties there are also people who are not lawyers, financial experts, or at least politicians of high standing, but personalities such as professional rally drivers or popular singers. Somebody wrote on the Web that these people want to “drive in to the European Parliament, while singing a Polish national anthem”. Small, poorly financed and little-known electoral committees have almost no chance to gain voter support. And, besides, the interest of the population in going to the polls is rather small. Candidates who actually represent their electorate and who could contribute much of their skills to the EP might lose.

As an independent, Ms. Jadwiga Polasik is the only disabled candidate with no ties to any political party. A former World Champion and Olympic Champion in fencing, she uses a wheelchair now. She graduated in economics and worked in the profession. If elected to the European Parliament, she would work to promote the rights of the disabled. But her chances to be elected are slim. Leaders of the most popular political parties resort to many tricks to get their candidates elected. Thus, for example, the leadership of the populist party Samoobrona (Self-Defense) hired a British election campaign expert – Mr. Bob Lacy – to train their candidates. Mr. Lacy spoke about his trainees with hope: : “Everyone of them has a knife. We will only sharpen it”.

A survey by the Institute of Public Affaires (ISP) conducted in Poland in 2003 indicated that 56% of the respondents declared their trust in the European Union. According to 60% of the respondents, Poland will have little importance in the European Union, 24% believe it will have medium importance and only 14% believe that Poland will have a “great role” in the EU. Mrs. Lena Kolarska-Bobinska – Director of the ISP - is amazed how little Poles believe in their own power: only the more optimistic youth – as she said – suggest that Poland will have medium or great importance. But 48% of the Poles interviewed think that Poland’s accession to the EU will have a positive influence on how the Polish Parliament and local authorities work.

I am not afraid at all that the sometimes bizarre ways of the MPs of Polish Parliament will be automatically passed on to the European Parliament by the 54 winners of the June 13 elections held in Poland. But the 54 lucky Polish MEPs might learn a lot from their more experienced colleagues in the EP. And they might work there for the benefit of Poland and of the whole European community.