Poland's entry to the EU may be delayed by six months, senior officials say

Yesterday Eneko Landaburu, the Director General of Directorate General for E uropean Expansion, announced that Poland will not become an European Union (EU) member on January 1, 2004 but probably around six months after that dat e. "The delay is the result of a very strained negotiations agenda. There is too little time to complete it on schedule, particularly as the most importa nt talks on finances have not even started yet," stressed Landaburu. The sec ond reason for the delay is complicated ratification procedures in some EU c ountries. Despite the fact that the EU will not be ready on time, Poland's s trategic aim is to be ready to become a EU member on January 1, 2004. "It is obvious that a ratification process in a given country may be delayed. There are different scenarios, however we will have to follow the ambitious scenar io," said Poland's chief negotiator with the EU Jan Truszczynski. EU officia ls stress that Poland will become an member in 2004 and participate in the e lections for the European Union Parliament in June 2004. This was also confi rmed by the Energy and Transport commissioner Loyola de Palacio. (Puls Bizne su, p.11) A.Z.