Major changes in the foreign trade of Poland resulting from its accession to the EU

Abstract

Accession to the EU meant for Poland (similarly to all the other New Member States) a significant change of the previously binding principles and conditions of trade exchange in all the relations. The study is an attempt to verify the hypothesis that these changes had a significant impact on the development of trade flows in the years 2004-2010 compared to the pre-accession period. The analysis of the available statistical data shows that to the greatest extent transformations related to reciprocal trade of examined countries, in particular trade in processed agricultural products. In addition, the analysis also shows that in the analysed period the share of intra-industry trade index in the trade flows of Poland with EU-15 and EU-10 countries increased, although it still remains on a relatively low level.