Government comes clean, EU membership will mean 22% unemployment

According to government officials, the moment that Poland joins the EU may spark off a wave of bankruptcies, as was the case of Spain or Ireland, and the unemployment rate may increase to 22%. Prime Minster Leszek Miller during yesterday's meeting of the Foreign Investors Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IPHIZ) said that at present the national value of GDP is a mere 42% of the average EU level. "It can be seen that Poland has a lot of catching up to do, and this can be achieved among others by using EU funds. We have to find ourselves a place in the Union, from which we could take part in the decision process and not only be observers," said Miller. The Head of the Parliamentary European Commission Jozef Oleksy said that, "Polish companies will be challenged. However they have to learn EU legislation quite fast." (Parkiet, p. 7) M.M.