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| In search of Europe: Poland | In search of Europe: Poland |
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| Ambitious Poles see EU enlargement as an opportunity, not a threat, the BBC's Jonny Dymond reports, as he tours the continent ahead of next month's European elections. | Ambitious Poles see EU enlargement as an opportunity, not a threat, the BBC's Jonny Dymond reports, as he tours the continent ahead of next month's European elections. |
| On the ferry between the UK and Sweden I ran into one of the truck drivers making the crossing. He was, he said, earning £14 an hour for his trips. But he was being undercut by Polish drivers who would work for £7 an hour. What was he to do? | On the ferry between the UK and Sweden I ran into one of the truck drivers making the crossing. He was, he said, earning £14 an hour for his trips. But he was being undercut by Polish drivers who would work for £7 an hour. What was he to do? |
| JONNY DYMOND I'm Jonny Dymond and I've said goodbye to the BBC Brussels bureau for the next few weeks. I'll be taking the temperature in nine EU member states before the European Parliament elections on 4-7 June. I'm going to ask voters what they think of the EU and what their priorities are. Join me on the trip! Jonny Dymond's route map Your comments | JONNY DYMOND I'm Jonny Dymond and I've said goodbye to the BBC Brussels bureau for the next few weeks. I'll be taking the temperature in nine EU member states before the European Parliament elections on 4-7 June. I'm going to ask voters what they think of the EU and what their priorities are. Join me on the trip! Jonny Dymond's route map Your comments |
| His plight was one of the reasons to be in Bialystok, northeastern Poland, headquarters of Adampol, one of the country's biggest transport companies. | His plight was one of the reasons to be in Bialystok, northeastern Poland, headquarters of Adampol, one of the country's biggest transport companies. |
| Adampol shifts new cars around Europe and out to the East - through Belarus and Ukraine and out into Russia. | Adampol shifts new cars around Europe and out to the East - through Belarus and Ukraine and out into Russia. |
| The company has been around since 1990. But it was in May 2004, when Poland joined the EU and the border control came down, that the company boomed. | |
| "It's like explaining to a blind man what the day looks like," says the company's ebullient boss, Adam Byglewski, as he tries to illustrate how life changed after Poland's accession to the EU. | |
| The opening of borders boosted business for Adam Byglewski | |
| "It was like someone waved a magic wand - not only that the queues disappeared but that we could drive to Lithuania, to Germany, to the Czech Republic or Slovakia. Overnight, queues of two three or four days just disappeared." | "It was like someone waved a magic wand - not only that the queues disappeared but that we could drive to Lithuania, to Germany, to the Czech Republic or Slovakia. Overnight, queues of two three or four days just disappeared." |
| So what would he say to the trucker on - a rough exchange - 17 euros an hour, threatened by a driver who'll do the job for nine euros? | So what would he say to the trucker on - a rough exchange - 17 euros an hour, threatened by a driver who'll do the job for nine euros? |
| "Perhaps we can't expect an English or a Polish driver to understand," he says. "Perhaps we should just say that in a while that Polish driver will head home and he'll earn an 17 euros hour, and [the British trucker] may be earning 19 euros or get back to 17 euros. I don't know. I haven't got an easy answer." | "Perhaps we can't expect an English or a Polish driver to understand," he says. "Perhaps we should just say that in a while that Polish driver will head home and he'll earn an 17 euros hour, and [the British trucker] may be earning 19 euros or get back to 17 euros. I don't know. I haven't got an easy answer." |
| As many as 2.5 million Poles may have left Poland in the past five years to find jobs abroad, there are no decent statistics. | As many as 2.5 million Poles may have left Poland in the past five years to find jobs abroad, there are no decent statistics. |
| The movement of people - the speed and scale of which can only be compared in Europe to the end of World War II - distorted the country's economy, leaving it short of everything from labourers to teachers to doctors. | The movement of people - the speed and scale of which can only be compared in Europe to the end of World War II - distorted the country's economy, leaving it short of everything from labourers to teachers to doctors. |
| Tales of two-year waiting lists for plumbing jobs are legion. | Tales of two-year waiting lists for plumbing jobs are legion. |
| The exodus also slowed internal reform. When all the people with get up and go have got up and gone, there is less pressure to change the pace of regulatory bureaucracies. | The exodus also slowed internal reform. When all the people with get up and go have got up and gone, there is less pressure to change the pace of regulatory bureaucracies. |
| Dobrawa Piekos has put skills learnt in the UK to good use back home | Dobrawa Piekos has put skills learnt in the UK to good use back home |
| But people are coming back to Poland with new skills learnt in foreign capitals. | But people are coming back to Poland with new skills learnt in foreign capitals. |
| In a high-ceilinged apartment in central Warsaw, Dobrawa Piekos blow-dries a customer's hair. She spent three years learning her trade in London and has now set up a high-end salon that employs eight. | In a high-ceilinged apartment in central Warsaw, Dobrawa Piekos blow-dries a customer's hair. She spent three years learning her trade in London and has now set up a high-end salon that employs eight. |
| Dobrawa's House of Hair is a funky outfit, with fake zebra skin wall coverings and bright red chairs facing tall mirrors. | Dobrawa's House of Hair is a funky outfit, with fake zebra skin wall coverings and bright red chairs facing tall mirrors. |
| I ask Dobrawa what she makes of the complaints about the number of Poles in Britain - and the call for "British jobs for British workers". | I ask Dobrawa what she makes of the complaints about the number of Poles in Britain - and the call for "British jobs for British workers". |
| "British people, I've got nothing against them, but I do think that they don't respect jobs," she says. "They are too fussy. They would love to be put on a high position and get good money for less hours and everything. In my country, everything that we have is made by hard work." | "British people, I've got nothing against them, but I do think that they don't respect jobs," she says. "They are too fussy. They would love to be put on a high position and get good money for less hours and everything. In my country, everything that we have is made by hard work." |
| The trucker on the ferry didn't fit that description of a work-shy Brit. But it's something you hear from a fair few foreigners who have worked in London. | The trucker on the ferry didn't fit that description of a work-shy Brit. But it's something you hear from a fair few foreigners who have worked in London. |
| Jonny Dymond in Poland: "Nobody appears to give much of a damn about the vote coming up" | Jonny Dymond in Poland: "Nobody appears to give much of a damn about the vote coming up" |
| There is of course another side to the coming and going of Polish workers over the past few years. People like Dobrawa Piekos come back not just with cash saved, but with new skills too, that builds an economy back in Poland. | There is of course another side to the coming and going of Polish workers over the past few years. People like Dobrawa Piekos come back not just with cash saved, but with new skills too, that builds an economy back in Poland. |
| Mateusz Matula and Jacek Mlodawski spent time working and saving in Ireland before they came back to found an internet business. It now ships contact lenses around the country. | Mateusz Matula and Jacek Mlodawski spent time working and saving in Ireland before they came back to found an internet business. It now ships contact lenses around the country. |
| Almost drowning in the cardboard boxes that only recently contained the PCs that litter their office building, they talk about how the Poles that have fled will return. | Almost drowning in the cardboard boxes that only recently contained the PCs that litter their office building, they talk about how the Poles that have fled will return. |
| "What can I say to British people," Mateusz laughs. "Don't worry, it's just temporary. And if Poland as a country will grow it will good for Britain as well. | "What can I say to British people," Mateusz laughs. "Don't worry, it's just temporary. And if Poland as a country will grow it will good for Britain as well. |
| "We will be good a market for British products. Nowadays we can't afford British products. It's too expensive for us." | "We will be good a market for British products. Nowadays we can't afford British products. It's too expensive for us." |
| So will there come a time when British people might come to Poland in search of work? | So will there come a time when British people might come to Poland in search of work? |
| "Maybe it will be possible in the future," says Jacek. "But I think it will be ten years or twenty. With every step people in Poland have problems with tax officials, with the inspection of labour, so it is not so easy to start a business here." | "Maybe it will be possible in the future," says Jacek. "But I think it will be ten years or twenty. With every step people in Poland have problems with tax officials, with the inspection of labour, so it is not so easy to start a business here." |
| "But I believe that the situation may change." | "But I believe that the situation may change." |
| No topic has come up more often on the European "campaign trail" than this one: the growing pains of enlargement are wrenching ones, for both "donor" countries like Poland and recipients like Britain and Ireland. | No topic has come up more often on the European "campaign trail" than this one: the growing pains of enlargement are wrenching ones, for both "donor" countries like Poland and recipients like Britain and Ireland. |
| Some would argue that the "big bang" approach was not such a smart one, given the huge disparity in living standards between East and West, and the rise of cheap travel. | Some would argue that the "big bang" approach was not such a smart one, given the huge disparity in living standards between East and West, and the rise of cheap travel. |
| The Poles I've spoken to would disagree. It has liberated them, and allowed them to kick-start businesses back in the home country. | The Poles I've spoken to would disagree. It has liberated them, and allowed them to kick-start businesses back in the home country. |
| But I still can't think of a smart answer to the trucker I met. | But I still can't think of a smart answer to the trucker I met. |
| In search of Europe: Latvia | In search of Europe: Latvia |
| In search of Europe: Sweden | In search of Europe: Sweden |
| In search of Europe: UK | In search of Europe: UK |
| In search of Europe: Ireland | In search of Europe: Ireland |
| In search of Europe: France | In search of Europe: France |
| 4 May - France8 May - Ireland12 May - UK 16 May - Sweden21 May - Latvia25 May - Poland 29 May - Austria2 June - Italy5 June - Germany | 4 May - France8 May - Ireland12 May - UK 16 May - Sweden21 May - Latvia25 May - Poland 29 May - Austria2 June - Italy5 June - Germany |
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| Send us your comments on Jonny's feature and any questions for him using the form below: | Send us your comments on Jonny's feature and any questions for him using the form below: |
| The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide. Terms & Conditions | The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide. Terms & Conditions |
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