Poland still ranks high for earliest EU admission

According to the European Commission's annual progress report on candidate countries, those best prepared for European Union (EU) admission are Cyprus and Malta, with Poland, Hungary and Estonia following closely behind. A story in Prawo i Gospodarka reports because of its improvement in the area of legal harmonization with EU norms, Poland has made "satisfactory progress" and still ranks among the leading candidate countries. The EU especially appreciated Poland's establishment of the Sejm European Law Commission. "Poland is still in the leading candidate group, so there is no need to fear that the negotiation process will slowdown," said Jan Truszczynski, ambassador to the EU. However, the negotiation schedule proposed in the report, specifically the 2002 date for closing negotiations, did not satisfy Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, head the Office of the Committee for European Integration. P.J.