Poland still waiting for "big breakthrough" in European Union negotiations

On the first negotiation session with the European Union (EU) after the summer vacation period, Poland was unable to close any of three chapters, and thus with only 11 negotiation chapters closed it ranks last in its candidate group. However, the EU agreed on the first temporary periods for Poland. "There will be a 'big breakthrough' in Poland-EU negotiations. It is high time we stopped measuring the stage of negotiations by the number of chapters closed" said Jan Kulakowski, Poland's main negotiator with the EU. According to him, the real stage of negotiations should be measured by the number of difficult issues solved. Currently, the talks have suffered because of the lack of a deputy minister responsible for the talks with the EU. (Gazeta Wyborcza, page 27) P.J.