France and Spain raise separate objections to readiness of new EU members
France has blocked European Union (EU) negotiations with a group of
candidate countries including Poland as President Aleksander Kwasniewski was
meeting its prime minister Lionel Jospin. France questioned the readiness of
Poland, Czech Republic, and Hungary to introduce the trans-border
regulations immediately when they become members of the EU. At the meeting
of the EU working group France presented a confidential report about Poland'
s borders showing them as always crowded, open to criminals and having
corrupt custom officers. At the same time Spain blocked acceptance of the EU
position on the free flow of people and capital. If France and Spain do not
reach an agreement with the rest of the EU countries, the EU session on May
26 will be cancelled and the EU will not be able to propose a date for the
final negotiations. (Gazeta Wyborcza, page 10) E.B.
