Business almost as usual for border flea markets after EU membership

Joining the European Union is unlikely to end the country's multi-billion dollar surplus in informal cross-border trade with Eastern neighbors, chief EU membership negotiator Jan Truszczynski told Journalists yesterday. Many economists had feared that the current account deficit would widen if cross-border trade collapsed due to stricter travel regulations following EU membership. Truszczynski said the new conditions for granting visas to Russians, Ukrainians and Belarussians would still be very liberal. "There may be some decline...but certainly not a complete stop," Truszczynski told a news conference after the latest round of accession talks in Brussels on future border and police cooperation. Under the deal, Poland will introduce EU-standard visas for citizens of the three states from July, 2003. Truszczynski sought to dispel the fears of border communities whose livelihood depend on small trade, saying that Ukrainians and others would still come to sell alcohol and cigarettes and buy clothes and electronic equipment. Proceeds from this grey market cross-border trade increased to $4.4 billion last year from less than $4 billion in 2000, but were much lower than in mid 1990s when they peaked at more than $7 billion, according to central bank statistics on currency flows. (Reuters)