European Union accused of dragging its feet over the accession negotiations

Poland believes the European Union (EU) is behind schedule concerning the accession process. It is expecting France, which took over the presidency on Saturday, to increase the pace of negotiations. France is keen to finish the EU institutional reforms soon and open the way for new members including Poland. If talks do not speed up, then Poland is expecting that its accession to the EU will be in 2005, not 2003 as planned. Polish EU negotiator Jacek Saryusz-Wolski was quite outspoken about Polish demands calling on the EU to end the negotiations "since it's high time to do so." (Zycie, page 5) P.S.