Poland looks set to benefit for delayed (2004) EU membership

The EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen has for the first time officially announced that EU expansion will take place in the middle of 2004. May 1 or June 1 are the most likely dates for the enlargement to become a fact. "The new members have to join the Union before the European Parliament elections on June 22, 2004," said Verheugen. The delay may turn out to be good news, as it means Poland's contribution to the EU budget will go down by euro 200 million during each month of the delay. At the same time, the EU financial support for Poland will remain unchanged. If Poland became an EU member at the beginning of June 2004 it should receive euro 1.9 billion, compared with euro 900 million in subsidies if it joined on January 1 2004. "This appears very advantageous, but we have to remember that the negotiations are still in progress. The country still has to do its best to become an EU member as soon as possible. Maybe we will manage to join on January 1," EU Affairs Minister Danuta Hubner said. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A1) A.Z.