The Economic Determinants of the Polish (potential) Veto on the Climate-Energy Package during the EU Summit in December 2008

The objective of the paper is to shed light on the perspective of some new member states (NMS) of the European Union (EU) – in this case Poland – on the ambitious climate-energy endeavours undertaken at the supranational level. The economic consequences of implementing the most advanced plans would be to generate unproportionally high costs for the economy, energy production sector and, as a result, for the households’ budgets. From the Polish perspective it would be counterproductive in terms of the energy security concept agreed in the strategic documents defining climate and energy policies in the 2030 time horizon. Despite the justification and rationale of the European climate crusade, the political and economic costs for some member states are high enough that they do not hesitate to threaten to veto in the EU Council meeting. This paper answers the question as to why the Polish veto on the climate-energy package was a real threat during the EU energy summit in December 2008.