European Parliament praises Poland's preparations for EU membership

According to an official report issued by the European Parliament, Poland's preparations for European Union (EU) membership are going well enough for the country to join the alliance before the EU parliamentary elections in 2004. However, the EU experts expressed concern about Poland's high unemployment rate, which currently stands at 16%. On the positive side, they praised the increase in exports, as well as recent administrative and social reforms. On matters that still need to be attended to, the European Parliament underlined the necessity of restructuring Poland's agricultural and meat production sectors. (Puls Biznesu, p. 7) A.Z.