法国欧盟宪法草案全民公决前的运动中，欧盟建议的有关服务业的指令被诬蔑为破坏劳动者权利，而这一指控通过“波兰管道工”吓人的形象体现出来。
During the referendum campaign in France preceding the vote on the draft EU Constitutional Treaty, the proposed directive was vilified as undermining the rights of labor, symbolized by that dreaded bogeyman, the “Polish plumber.”