Contrary to her countrywoman Commissioner Danuta Hübner (see
), the President of the Polish Confederation of Private Employers, Henryka Bochniarz, is not concerned about barriers imposed by the old Member States on the free movement of labour. While she believes that it would be beneficial for Poles to gain some work experience abroad, she fears a brain drain to the West if economic conditions do not improve in Poland."Our asset is a strong and well-educated base of young people. A brain drain would be disastrous for the Polish economy, so ultimately, I am not too unhappy about the current restrictions," says Ms Bochniarz in an exclusive interview with EurActiv. Moreover she believes that the old Member States will soon realise that there is no real threat of a massive influx of foreign workers and thus gradually remove the barriers.
She thinks that the Lisbon agenda will benefit from enlargement as the ten new Member States will contribute with their recent experience of reform which they acquired during the rapid transition from communism to free market capitalism.
"The new Member States are entering an on-going discussion process, a building site, and it remains to be seen how far their accession will change the power structure of the EU. While some current Member States are reluctant to push through economic and social reforms, the accession countries are, in some aspects, more advanced. They could not afford to wait, they had to reform the system."
On the other hand, she does not underestimate the role of the EU-15 in the reform processes in the new Member States. While at the moment, the Polish business community works very closely with the government on the reform agenda, Ms Bochniarz thinks it important for the EU to keep up the pressure. "We need the support of the EU to introduce economic reforms and restructure public finances," she said.
Ms Bochniarz is convinced that it is up to the business community to 'sell the Lisbon agenda' to the public. "You cannot impose social reforms from the top, but you have to communicate. The message needs to be delivered through in-depth dialogue with trade unions and also the media," her experience shows. "On the other hand, the business community in Poland is not a well established middle class, but it is the first generation of capitalists. 30 per cent of our small entrepreneurs are former workers and bureaucrats. They are still an integral part of the public."
What benefits will EU membership bring to the Polish economy? Ms Bochniarz is hoping for a strong influx of foreign investment into the SME sector. She expects a great variety of joint ventures and consolidations in this area, following the big corporations that have already moved in recent years.
