The outcome of the recent Polish presidential elections is not predicted to impact the country’s position on the Common Fisheries Policy, although the winner Bronis³aw Komorowski is expected to play an important role in the preparations for the Polish EU Presidency, which starts on July 1, 2011.
Komorowski, of the Civic Platform party, claimed election victory over Jaros³aw Kaczyñski, of the main opposition Law and Justice party, by a slim margin of 6 percent.
As president, Komorowski is aligned with Premier Donald Tusk’s government plans, and is assumed not to use his veto power as indiscriminately as his late predecessor, Lech Kaczyñski, who was known to use this tool to cause havoc and make life difficult for Tusk. Lech Kaczyñski is not known to have used his veto power in relation to the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, and Komorowski is not expected to create any barriers either.
Lech Kaczyñski, twin brother of Jaros³aw Kaczyñski, was killed in an airplane crash in Western Russia on April 10.
Since the Civic Platform party has executive power in Poland now, Komorowski has pledged to work with Tusk and support his programme of modernizing Poland but also of tackling the current economic problems, such as high deficit and high unemployment.
Currently, Prime Minister Tusk is facing no more barriers to implement his planned reforms, although, it is predicted, they may lead to a loss of public support. It is hoped, that Tusk does not restrain his ambitious reform agenda in fear of losing support before the parliamentary elections in second part of 2011.
President Komorowski’s party favours market reforms and engagement with Poland’s European Union partners, which stands in stark opposition to the eurosceptic and nationalist approach of the Jaros³aw Kaczyñski politics. This may play favourably into Maria Damanaki’s, the European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, long term vision for sustainable fisheries in the European Union, which sets out to make the EU fisheries industry and maritime communities sources of sustainability and growth.
Iwona Roman