Election
2003 referendum held in Poland
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.
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Text from the Wikipedia article “Polish European Union membership referendum”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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 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 Constitution of Poland, 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.
Do you approve of the Republic of Poland's accession to the European Union?
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.
Note: The table lists the political parties which were represented in the Sejm at the time of the referendum.
Text from the Wikipedia article “2003 Polish European Union membership referendum”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.