In the huge, cavernous hall of the Katowice International Conference Center, in front of thousands of participants from the business world, Ursula von der Leyen showered everyone with flattery on May 7. “Today, I can say it: Poland is back.” In the industrial city in the south-west of the country, the “capital” of the national mining basin, the president of the European Commission opened the European Economic Congress, a major annual conference of companies and investors, celebrating at the same time the 20th anniversary of Poland’s accession to the European Union (EU) on May 1, 2004. A few minutes later, on the same stage, Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister, returned the favor: “Dear Ursula, it’s a very important signal that you’re here. Poland has indeed become a leader in Europe.”
Over and above the political obsequiousness, which is par for the course in the run-up to the European elections, there was a real wind of optimism in the air-conditioned lounges of this major business gathering. Twenty years ago, Poland’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was 48% of the EU average (at purchasing power parity). Today it stands at 82%, the equivalent of Portugal. Unemployment used to reach 20%; it now tops out at 2.9%. In the first 15 years, up to 2.5 million Poles emigrated, mainly to the UK, Germany and Ireland. Since 2018, the flow has reversed, and the country is recording a clear return of its population. “What has happened in 20 years is a miracle,” said Brunon Bartkiewicz, the president for Poland at Dutch bank ING.
In this case, the blessings of the economic Holy Spirit have reached Poland through two main channels: EU funds and membership of the single market, which has made it a prime destination for industrial relocations. In Katowice, a city of 300,000, money from the EU’s structural funds is everywhere. The international conference center, in particular, was built with this manna. The same is true of the nearby Philharmonic Concert Hall and the Silesian Museum, which have taken over a former coal mine.
On that May day, the star-adorned banner on all these buildings made it possible to organize a treasure hunt in search of Brussels funding. “Dominika Koczorek, who was taking part in the game, pen in hand, said: “Being in the EU is a given today.” The 25-year-old student had just returned from a three-month Erasmus exchange in the Canary Islands. “Look at Georgia, a country I’ve visited four times: They dream of joining the EU,” said her friend Zuzia Markiton.
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