EU referendum penciled in for 2003 after closure of negotiations this year

A Cabinet Committee attended by President Aleksander Kwasniewski and Prime Minister Leszek Miller yesterday recommended that a referendum on Poland's membership of the European Union (EU) should take place in 2003, following closure of EU entry negotiations by the end of 2002. "The government is determined to realize this plan so that Poland can be in the first group of countries aspiring to EU membership," Kwasniewski said. However, he admitted there were difficulties to be overcome in closing the remaining negotiating chapters. "2002 is a very difficult year because we want and we have to close the negotiations with the Union. I do not believe that it can be done without any stress or conflict," the president commented. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 6) A.Z.