EU criticizes fishing industry reform proposals as unclear and inadequate

A project for modernizing Poland's fishing and fish processing industries, prepared by the Fishing Industry Department of the Agriculture Ministry has been rejected by EU representatives. The program should be realized in three years at a cost of euro 331 million, euro 179 million of which will come from EU funds.The EU's Otto Boysen argued, however, that the goals of the program, and the means of achieving them, were unclear. He also said there was insufficient information about the strategy for realization of the program and that the analysis of the fishing industry's weak and strong points were incomplete. The EU would also like to know how job cuts in the sector could influence local unemployment levels and who would manage the finances. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B2) A.D.