Prodi reportedly accepts Polish demand for 12-year land purchase transition

Following a meeting with Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller in Brussels, president of the European Commission (EC) Romano Prodi said an end to Poland's negotiations on EU accession was possible within a year. Prodi stressed, however, that in order to achieve this it was necessary for both sides to adopt a flexible negotiating position. He urged Poland to improve the efficiency of its administration and courts so that European laws could be better executed. Further comments made by Prodi are interpreted as acknowledging that the EU was ready to accept a twelve year transition period demanded by Poland for the purchase of farmland and forests by foreigners, in return for Poland's agreement on the free labor movement issue. Gazeta Wyborcza reports that a compromise will probably be worked out on the land and labor issues next Tuesday. (Rzeczpospolita, pp. A1, A6; Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 22) P.J.