No luck with the Irish
By : Jeffrey Sparshott
European Union (EU) (http://www.europa.eu.int/index_en.htm) officials and candidate countries last week pushed ahead with enlargement plans despite new political uncertainty created by Ireland's rejection of the Nice Treaty, while Poland fell behind its peers in negotiations.
Irish voters' rejection of the EU treaty, which establishes the framework for a substantial enlargement of the Union, surprised leaders in and out of the EU, leading to disappointment and apprehension as well as continued calls to move ahead with plans to add new members.
In light of the Irish decision, Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek (http://www.kprm.gov.pl) called for a clear signal of political will and support for enlargement during last week's EU summit in Sweden. Nevertheless, while his government reported some general progress in negotiations, it did not close any chapters.
EU leaders hailed advancements by Hungary and the Czech Republic, which both managed provisionally to close talks on free movement of capital a difficult area that includes land purchases by foreigners. Hungary also found a compromise on free movement of persons, accepting regulations that will limit job opportunities for its citizens in today's EU.
Polish negotiators Tuesday asked for further clarifications from the EU on land purchase and worker movement.
Following last week's meetings, Hungary has provisionally closed 22 of 30 negotiation areas that must be wrapped up before accession; the Czech Republic has finished 19 and Poland 16. The countries began negotiations at the same time. Slovakia and Lithuania, which only started talks last year, have overtaken Poland, each closing 17 chapters.
EU leaders, meanwhile, ruled out changing the terms of the Nice Treaty, which should be approved by all member states by the end of 2002 to take effect.
Ireland's president, Bertie Ahern, said he was disappointed by the results and admitted that they must be an unexpected shock for applicant countries. While some officials have speculated that a second referendum might be in the offing, the government has not spelled out a definite plan.
Only about one-third of Ireland's eligible voters turned out in the June 7 referendum, though 54% of the participants rejected the Nice Treaty. All 15 members of the EU must ratify the treaty so that the Union can accept all the current applicant countries.
President Aleksander Kwasniewski last week said the Irish decision means trouble for Poland's EU aspirations. "Those who con-sider enlargement a granted thing evidently decided there was nothing to fight for, so instead of voting they stayed home or went out for a beer," he said, according to the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
Analysts think the setback can be overcome.
"Initially, the disappointment of the Irish government, the EU partner countries and the accession countries was considerable, but now there is hope that the 'damage' will be mended by a second, positive referendum and that EU enlargement will proceed as planned," Deutsche Bank wrote in an assessment of the Irish vote.
