Ministers agree May 1, 2004 as entry date for Poland to EU

Foreign ministers of 15 European Union countries decided on Monday that ten new candidate countries will join the EU on May 1, 2004. Several countries wanted the accession date to be January 1, 2004, but the EU preferred May due to a variety of reasons. The EU ministers claimed that the ratification of the accession treaty will take about one year. The document will probably be signed in Athens in April, 2003. The Polish government will not protest against the accession date set by the EU, however, it wants several conditions to be fulfilled. "We want a guarantee that we will participate in the EU Parliamentary elections as a full member," said Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, adding that he hopes that Poland's contribution to the 2004 EU budget will be reduced. Poland, with 50 deputies in the EU Parliament will have one of the largest numbers of seats in the chamber. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A6; Parkiet, p.1; Puls Biznesu, p. 28) A.Z.