The accession to the European Union is often regarded as the last hurdle to be overcome in the transformation process of the Central and Eastern European states. Ten years after the demise of their planned economies, these states have established similar institutions as the EU. Nevertheless, the EU accession will force the candidates to master the remaining challenges on their path to a market economy. Particularly the free movement of goods and capital and the free movement of labour within the EU will require them to implement additional structural adjustments. Poland is by far the largest candidate. For this reason, we will explore the flexibility of the Polish labour market in this research project. Portugal and Spain during their accession to the EU will serve as reference example (in these countries, as e.g. in Poland, a very large proportion of the population was employed in agriculture). This project investigates labour market flexibility not only in its sectoral, but also in its occupational and geographic dimension. Furthermore, we will analyse wage flexibility in the context of structural adjustments The empirical analyses will be primarily based on microenonometric methods. By using personal data we intend to attain detailed information on structural changes and institutional defects on the Polish labour market. Our aim is to suggest political measures for the organisation of Polish (labour market) institutions in the context of Poland's accession to the European Union.