Twenty Years of the Sejm and the Senate in the European Union. Analysis From the Point of View of Universalist and Particularist Approaches

The activities of the two chambers of the Polish parliament – the Sejm and the Senate – during the twenty years of Poland’s membership in the European Union can be analysed by taking two research approaches, the first of which is universalism, which addresses the civilisational need to build, harmonise, and unify. Universalism, which refers to the neo-functionalism paradigm, has characterised the European activity of both chambers of the Polish parliament. The other perspective is provided by neo-realist particularism, which takes an anti-idealist and anti-utopian stance. It is distinguished by national egotism expressed as an attachment to achieving the nation’s own interests. Today, particularism understood in this way is based on sovereign distinctiveness, independence, and self-reliance. The purpose of this article is to positively verify the hypothesis that the parliamentary dimension of Poland’s membership in the EU observed through the participation of the Sejm and Senate in the process of Europeanisation and de-Europeanisation simultaneously contributes to the dependence and independence of both chambers on the European Union and its institutions. The universalist and particularist approaches have allowed the author of this analysis to reach an empirically-confirmed conclusion that both chambers of the Polish parliament in the period under study had an influence on the following: (1) the political power of the government, reinforcing or sapping it during negotiations; (2) the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of coalition-building in the EU; (3) cooperation with or resistance to the dominance of the parliaments of large EU states; (4) varied responsibility for the integrative system as a united and harmonious whole; and (5) the union of the peoples of Europe or a Europe of Homelands.