Between the Centre and the Periphery of European Integration? Ten Years of Polish Membership in the European Union

Europe, slowly but surely, appears to be recovering from one of the most damaging financial crises ever, but still our continent dangles in a sort of political suspension. The “Eastern Enlargement” from 2004 has been digested badly by the European Union. Currently, we are witnessing an overwhelming shortage of common ideas for the Community consisting of the twenty eight Member States, which is striking and, is in fact a grievous phenomenon. A number of exclusive political and economic initiatives realized beyond the institutional skeleton of the Union evolve, at least partially, into disruption of pure solidarity and rudimentary concord among nations. The multi-tier Europe, evidently faltering at a political crossroads, is gradually rising from the diff erentiation of the Community and, in consequence, presupposes some kind of socio-political and economic Centre and Periphery.