Poland celebrates the 15th anniversary of the country`s accession to  the EU: the numbers show GDP growth and economic benefits

ArmInfo. The unemployment rate in  Poland is one of the lowest in the European Union. Polish Ambassador  to Armenia Pavel Cheplak said this at an event dedicated to the 15th  anniversary of the country's accession to the EU, the 10th  anniversary of the Eastern Partnership project, which was initiated  by Poland and Sweden and the 30th anniversary of the first free  elections in the country after ending the cold war.

According to the diplomat, membership in the EU forced to rapidly  reform, revise the legislation. "If in 2004 the standard of living in  Poland was 38-40% of the average standard of living in the EU, today  it is 71%. Two years ago we were ahead of Greece in terms of this, in  this we are ahead of Portugal," Cheplak said.

Such indicators, as the Polish diplomat explained, are largely - by  about 80%, due to the power of small- medium-sized businesses, due to  which unemployment in the country during the period of EU membership  has almost halved. "Perhaps this is somewhat problematic for us,  because Poland does not have such large companies as Finland or  Sweden, but on the other hand, 5-6 million small firms provide one of  the lowest unemployment rates in the EU" - pointed Cheplak. And this  is despite the fact that in the first period of EU membership, almost  2 million Poles left for labor migration to other countries of the  European family, and today they are returning. In addition, according  to data from November 2018, 1.76 million Ukrainians also work legally  in Poland.

Recall that 15 years ago - on May 1, 2004, Poland joined the European  Union on May 1, 2004, along with nine other countries, including  Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Romania  and Bulgaria became members of the EU in 2007, and Croatia - in 2013.  The number of EU countries increased from 15 to 25, and this was the  largest expansion in the history of the union. Today it includes 28  countries.  Poland is the most populous and large relative to the  surface of the country, which joined the EU after 2004.

The first step was the signing on 16 December 1991 of the "European  Agreement", establishing a community between Poland and the European  Community and their member states. Symbolic was the submission by the  Government of the Republic of Poland of a formal application for  membership in the European Union on April 8, 1994 in Athens. Four  years later, negotiations began with the EU on accession.  In the  referendum, which was held on June 7-8, 2003, 77.4% of Polyakov  supported EU membership.  Thus, according to the data of the Ministry  of Finance of Poland, since the entry of Poland into the European  Union until the end of March 2019, the country's budget has received  more than 163 billion euros. At the same time, Poland has allocated  over 53 billion euros in contributions to the EU budget. 36 billion  euros of this amount is part of Poland's GDP, about 7.5 billion euros  is part of Polish VAT. Thus, over 15 years of EU membership, Poland  received about 110 billion euros from the EU budget. With this money  in Poland, the technical infrastructure was built (highways,  highways, and also many roads in small settlements), the railways,  water mains, sewage system were modernized. Significant funds were  allocated for environmental protection (wastewater treatment plants,  landfills, incinerators) and for the purchase of medical equipment  for hospitals.

Eurostat published data for March, which show that  Poland, with an unemployment rate of 3.4%, is fourth in the EU.  Unemployment in March in the Eurozone countries averaged 7.7 percent,  and in the whole union - 6.4 percent. In the euro zone unemployment  is the lowest since September 2008, and in the EU since January 2000.  The lowest unemployment rate in the Czech Republic is 1.9%, in  Germany and the Netherlands, and also in Poland - more than 3%.

Today, the Polish economy is the sixth largest GDP in the European  Union, while maintaining one of the highest levels of growth in the  Community. Poland is an active and important member of the European  Union, participating in the most important debates held at the  European Union forum on the future of the EU, migration, climate and  economic policies. Polish membership strengthens the position of the  Republic in the international arena, bringing great economic,  political and social benefits.