More than 76% of Poles oppose joining the euro, a poll showed yesterday (21 October), suggesting there is little prospect that central and eastern Europe’s largest economy will join the common currency soon.

President Bronis?aw Komorowski, a proponent of euro zone membership, said on Monday that Poland should decide on its path towards euro accession following national elections in 2015.

Market research company GfK said 38% of Poles it surveyed between 2 and 5 October were “decisively” against adopting the euro, with another 38% leaning against membership.

Only 3% of Poles were “decisively” in favour of joining, with 15% leaning in favour, the poll showed.

GfK said the opposition to euro adoption ran across all social groups and political affiliations among the representative group of 1,020 Poles surveyed.

“In most age, education, employment status and city size groups, euro adoption opponents dominate and their share amounts to between 70 and 80%,” GfK said.

Poland is obliged by the terms under which it joined the European Union in 2004 to adopt the single currency in time.

That would require a change in the constitution, which now enshrines the zloty as Poland’s national currency

Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz’s centre-right government does not have the two-thirds majority in parliament it would need to push through such a change, and the poll suggests any political party advocating euro could have a hard time finding voter support.

Kopacz said at the start of October that besides Poland needing to meet the technical criteria for euro entry, the euro zone, which is struggling with low growth and inflation after a prolonged debt crisis, needed to show it was stable.