EC report cites corruption, mafia, and laundering as obstacles to EU accession

The high and increasing level of corruption, organized crime, and money laundering may be obstacles to the introduction in Poland of the Uniform Market rules, according a report in preparation by the European Commission ((EC). These phenomena constitute one of the major reasons for the poor results of Polish authorities in attempting to administer EU law. Other related problems include economic crimes such as tax evasion, tobacco and alcohol smuggling, and a large grey market zone.The EC is drawing up a report on the adjustment of Polish internal affairs and justice administration to (EU) requirements, which will be forwarded to the current 15 EU countries. Based on the report, the EU Council will formulate its point of view for the negotiations it will hold with Poland. The French, German, Austrian and Finnish diplomats say that the final accession date may depend on the above-mentioned issues. However, Polish negotiators stress that they may be used as an excuse for delaying the date of Poland's EU accession. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A1)M.S.-C.