New EU negotiator credits predecessor with environment chapter success

Poland on Friday closed the environment chapter of its European Union (EU) accession talks. This is the 18th chapter the country has closed so far, and the first by the new government. Although the environment chapter was regarded as problematic, the 11 others still left to agree on are generally considered even more challenging. These include farming, the budget and structural funds. All are to be resolved in the next 14 months, since the government plans to close talks by the end of next year so as to enable accession in 2004. Poland's new EU negotiator, Jan Truszczynski, gave the credit for Friday's step forward to his predecessor Jan Kulakowski and the previous government. The new negotiating team stresses flexibility in talks with the EU, but according to Truszczynski, flexibility does not necessarily mean quick concessions. (Gazeta Wyborcza, Oct. 27-28, p. 26) T.J.