GETTY Are Poles and Bulgarians becoming fed up with the EU?

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Poland joined the 28-member bloc in 2004 while Bulgaria signed up three years later, but there are signs both countries’ populations are growing fed up of the bloated Brussels machine. Former Conservative Party deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft, who has set up his own independent polling company since resigning from the Tories, has published new research into the opinions of the EU from within the bloc’s newest member states. Speaking to focus groups in both Polish capital Warsaw and Bulgarian capital Sofia, the peer looked to discover how voters “compare the promise of [EU] membership with reality”. Lord Ashcroft’s pollsters quizzed ten men and ten women in each location “with a range of social backgrounds and political affiliations” with most participants having been in favour of their respective country joining the EU. They were asked a wide range of questions on issues such as life in their own countries, whether they were optimistic or pessimistic for the future, what they thought about specific issues like the economy and migration and various other aspects of EU membership. The research has indicated both Poles and Bulgarians are becoming exasperated with the EU’s wasteful spending, excessive regulation and German dominance of Brussels decision-making.

In Poland, Lord Ashcroft’s focus groups admitted “EU membership had not been without its drawbacks” but had played a role in the “more prosperous, outward-looking, confident Poland” of the last decade. But, in Sofia, those asked were “rather more gloomy” with their previous hopes for EU membership now left as “illusions”, researchers found. The study found both Poles and Bulgarians saw the influx of EU funds into their countries as “synonymous with waste”. One Bulgarian even noted how their country had become more reliant on imports with prices soaring; and was left to moan: “Agriculture is ruined”.

GETTY Pollsters quizzed a focus group in Warsaw

GETTY Residents in Sofia were also quizzed

As my grandmother used to say, the Germans lost the war but they still deal the cards One participant

The groups in both countries found they had yet to be “truly accepted by their fellow members” in the EU, with the study adding: “Bulgarians regarded the idea that they had any influence within the EU as laughable”. In Warsaw, the pollsters found participants were more confident about their country’s own status but “people felt most decisions were made by Germany along with France and… the UK”. One said: “As my grandmother used to say, the Germans lost the war but they still deal the cards”. In October last year the Polish election was won by the eurosceptic Law and Justice party, who have since pushed through constitutional reforms that were later criticised in the European Parliament. But many Poles have been left angered by Brussels’ “interference”, with one telling Lord Ashcroft’s pollsters: “They are interfering in domestic politics. If we want to change something, it’s not their business. They’re poking their noses in.”

GETTY Participants highlighted barmy EU rules about straight cucumbers

Bulgarians were also left exasperated with barmy EU regulations, with one highlighting “ridiculous” legislation about “straight cucumbers”. The researchers found “many felt their leaders did whatever Brussels told them, or had no choice but to do so” and laws were imposed that “did not necessarily suit them”. One participant said: “The ruling class just blindly follow the directions of the EU. Whatever the EU says, we do. We have done some really stupid things because of that.” There was also anger in both countries about how other member states sometimes flout rules. One said: “The French eat snails but they categorise them as fish so they can get fish so they can get subsidies.”

Both Poland and Bulgaria are obliged to adopt the euro single currency under the terms of their EU membership, with Poland already a member of the increasingly controversial passport-free Schengen Area and Bulgaria also on course to join the zone. But the focus groups in Warsaw and Sofia looked favourably on Britain’s “semi-detached” stance on closer European integration, with one commenting: “I like the fact they didn’t join the euro, they don’t have Schengen - they were always strong”. Asked about the possibility Britain could leave the EU at the upcoming in/out referendum promised by Prime Minister David Cameron, the research found “most thought it was important for Britain to stay” in the bloc. One warned: “It would be the first step towards the collapse of the EU. It would be an inspiration for other countries. If they left it would be like a house of cards.”