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2003 Polish European Union membership referendum

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Field	Value
title	Do you approve of the Republic of Poland's accession to the European Union?
date
image	File:Karta do głosowania w referendum w Polsce w 2003 roku.jpg
caption	Ballot paper used in the referendum
country	Poland
yes	13,514,872
no	3,935,655
invalid	126,187
electorate	29,864,969
map	Referendum2003 Barry Kent.png
map_size	250
map_caption	Strength of the yes vote by voivodeship
map2	Referendum2003swiat Barry Kent.png
map_size2	250
mapcaption2	Strength of the yes vote by voters abroad
outcome	The referendum passed, and Poland joined the EU the following year.	next_referendum=[2015 Polish referendum](2015-polish-referendum)	previous_referendum=[1997 Polish constitutional referendum](1997-polish-constitutional-referendum)

Poland and the EU prior to its accession in 2004

A referendum on joining the European Union was held in Poland on 7 and 8 June 2003. The proposal was approved by 77% of voters. Poland subsequently joined the European Union that year following the ratification of the Treaty of Accession 2003. The country's first European Parliament elections were held in 2004.

The referendum

The referendum lasted two days, which is unusual in Poland, as all previous referendums have been held on a single day. Voting took place from 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM on the first day, then paused overnight. It resumed at 6:00 AM the following day and continued until 8:00 PM.

It is the only referendum since the III Polish Republic to receive participation from over 50% of registered voters, making it the only binding referendum after 1989 (except for the 1997 referendum on the "Small Constitution," which did not have turnout requirements and took precedence over the 1995 Referendum Act that mandated a minimum turnout of 50% plus one voter).

The total cost of conducting that referendum was 82,279,418 PLN.

Question

Party positions

The governing Democratic Left Alliance and its junior coalition partner, the Labour Union, strongly campaigned for joining the EU. The biggest opposition party, the Civic Platform, was also strongly supportive of joining the EU. The agrarian Polish People's Party gave its support to the "Yes" campaign after its demands for the government were met in regards to farmers. The conservative Law and Justice party was openly critical of the EU's social agenda but ultimately supported joining the EU on economic grounds. The radical agrarian Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland was strongly Eurosceptic since its foundation but ultimately stayed neutral during the campaign. The far-right League of Polish Families was the only party in the Sejm which supported the "No" campaign.

Position	Party
Yes	Democratic Left Alliance (Poland)}}"
Civic Platform}}"		Civic Platform (PO)
Law and Justice}}"		Law and Justice (PiS)
Polish People's Party}}"		Polish People's Party (PSL)
Democratic Left Alliance – Labour Union}}"		Labour Union (UP)
No	League of Polish Families}}"
Neutral	Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland}}"

Note: The table lists the political parties which were represented in the Sejm at the time of the referendum.

Results

File:Ref2003 powiaty Barry Kent.png|Results by gmina File:Poland gminy UE2003 Barry Kent.png|Results by powiat

References

[[Dieter Nohlen]] & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1491 {{ISBN. 978-3-8329-5609-7
(2003-04-17). "Dz.U. 2003 nr 66 poz. 613".
(2003-04-17). "Dz. U. 2003 Nr 57 poz. 507".
(2023-06-16). "Historyczne referenda III RP. O czym decydowali Polacy?".
(1997-07-15). "Dz.U. 1997 nr 79 poz. 490".
"Informacja o wydatkach z budżetu państwa poniesionych na przygotowanie i przeprowadzenie w dniach 7 i 8 czerwca 2003 r. referendum ogólnokrajowego w sprawie wyrażenia zgody na ratyfikację Traktatu dotyczącego przystąpienia Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej do Uni".
(2009). "Through the Looking Glass: The Attitudes of Polish Political Parties towards the EU before and after Accession". Perspectives on European Politics and Society.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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