France links EU subsidies for Polish farmers with land-purchase issue

France has recently called for linking the issue of EU subsidies for Polish farmers with negotiations concerning the right for EU citizens to buy land in Poland. It seems that France wants to force EU countries to grant some subsidies to Polish farmers, which would turn Poland into a French ally in its fight for agriculture protectionism. The new proposal may result in the EU postponing discussion of the issue of land purchase until next year, when according to the negotiation schedule agriculture issues will be discussed. Thus the issue of land purchase will be excluded from the current negotiations over the free flow of capital between Poland and EU. This is consonant with Poland's expectations, as it presented the same proposal two years ago, and it has since been repeatedly supported by Polish negotiators. (Rzeczpospolita, May 19-20, p.B2) J.K