Government offers compromises aimed at speeding up EU accession talks

The government has outlined new proposals aimed at speeding up accession negotiations with the European Union (EU). According to Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek, changing the country's negotiating stance will offer the opportunity to close some chapters within a few weeks. In the chapter on company law, Poland will adopt new patent regulations on January 1, 2003, and not as previously stated on the date of the country's EU accession. Poland is also ready to propose solutions in the areas of environmental protection and fishing, adopting a more flexible stance relating to such contentious issues as communal sewage and the use by EU ships of Poland's economic waters. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B2) M.T.