Prodi warns toughest talks still lie ahead
European Commission (EC) President Romano Prodi met with local government officials in Warsaw last week to conduct the next round of negotiations regarding Poland's accession to the European Union (EU).
During his visit with Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek, Prodi said that the free movement of workers, agricultural issues and land purchases remain the most difficult negotiating points and must be treated with "good faith and good sense."
In addition, he said that because Poland is at the forefront of the next enlargement, it should be a member in time for the 2004 EU elections. However, he cautioned that difficult negotiations remain over transition periods for Poland to come into line with European law. "Voting doesn't mean that potential member countries can vote," he said. "Only member countries can vote."
Apart from Prodi's visit, negotiators are beginning to focus on free movement of labor as one of the major hurdles to be cleared during talks. Poland wants its citizens to have the right to work anywhere in the EU immediately upon joining the club, while individual EU members are calling for a transition period of up to seven years.
"In our opinion the principle of free movement of people is one of the principles of European integration and should be in place at the time of our accession," said Irena Boruta, a member of Poland's negotiating team, at a seminar Wednesday.
The EC last week presented five potential options on labor movement that will be discussed by member states as they formulate a common negotiating position.
The options include immediate opening of EU labor markets for new entrants; complete closure of the market for a fixed period of time; opening markets for the new entrants while giving individual nations the right to impose restrictions in case of outsized immigration flows; creation of flexible transition periods that would be subject to review and termination on an EU-wide or national basis if no longer needed; and national, regional or sectoral quotas for job seekers. The study offering the five options forecast migration of 70,000-150,000 job seekers per year from all new members into the EU. Even with the mild forecasts, some member states are still concerned, especially Germany and Austria.
"It is a short-term transitional problem and it needs a transitional solution," said Herbert Quelle, counselor at the German embassy in Warsaw. Germany's proposal on labor markets includes a seven-year transition that could be shortened broadly or within specific sectors. Without the transition, Germany's economy would be unable to cope with the influx of labor, he warned.
Austria is concerned that its neighbors would be able to live at home and work in Austria, taking advantage of lower living costs in, for example, the Czech Republic, said Peter Krois, a second secretary at Austria's embassy in Warsaw.
Other nations are less concerned, although not completely against a transition period. The EU imposed a seven-year transition on Spanish workers when that country joined in 1986, but shortened it to six years after it became apparent that the controls were not necessary, said Antonio Garcia Ferrer, counselor at the Spanish embassy in Warsaw. "More European Union workers entered Spain than Spanish workers went to the EU," he said. "There was no major flood or exodus of Spanish workers."
