Spain calls halt to Polish-EU negotiations
By : Jeffrey Sparshott
Spain expects a dispute over funding, a sticking point in Poland's European Union (EU) (http://www.europa.eu.int/inex.en.htm) accession talks, to be solved before mid-June, a Spanish diplomatic official said on Friday.
EU countries pushed back negotiations scheduled for last week until June 1 when they could not reach common negotiation positions on some issues because Spain demanded recognition for its concerns over regional structural aid, which funnels money to the poorest regions in the Union.
Spanish officials are concerned that its less-developed areas will lose aid designed to raise their standard of living when countries with even poorer regions accede, and it refused to cooperate on setting a common policy for free movement of workers until the funding issue is recognized.
The setback has divided EU countries, with Germany and France taking the lead in rejecting Spain's linkage of the issues, and heightened calls from Polish negotiators to move ahead with talks so Poland can join before the 2004 EU parliamentary elections, a goal many observers consider unrealistic.
While Polish officials are concerned that overall negotiations will be slowed because of the dispute, they are at the same time pushing a hard line on positions related to worker access to the EU job market, funds to help develop poorer regions and agricultural aid.
"We will insist on achieving access for Polish workers from the first day," said Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek (http://www.kprm.gov.pl) at a press conference last week. The European Commission (EC) has proposed a transition period of up to seven years before workers in the East could access the EU's labor market a position that recognizes German and Austrian fears that a flood of workers from countries like Poland could swamp their job markets. Spain has publicly supported no transition period for workers.
Spain is willing to show flexibility toward Germany's and Austria's fears if there is some sensitivity toward Spain's problem with structural aid, the Madrid-based diplomat said. A solution would include recognition of the potential loss of funds for the country's poorest regions and a resolution to have the EC put forward solutions to gradually phase out aid, rather than have an abrupt halt, she said.
"Spain is optimistic there will be a solution to this problem before the Gothenburg summit," she said, referring to a June 15-16 EU meeting in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Polish officials have also outlined their expectations on structural and agricultural funds, calling for immediate access using the EU's existing formulas for dividing up money. The issues now before the EU and candidates are some of the most difficult.
"As it was foreseen in the roadmap, we now enter more difficult waters with sensitive negotiation chapters," said Jean-Christophe Filori, EU spokesman for enlargement issues. "This goes for Poland as well as for the other candidate countries. Poland is in a very reasonable negotiation position compared with the other candidates. We consider that Poland is still among the frontrunners."
But nothing can happen until all 15 EU members agree on negotiating positions. Their inability to agree delayed last week's scheduled meeting, Filori acknowledged. The setback has frustrated Polish officials.
"In the last few months we have made significant progress in the talks and proposed compromise solutions in several chapters," said Jan Kulakowski, Poland's lead negotiator, last week. "In order for a breakthrough to be feasible, determination must be shown on both sides. Poland has been fulfilling adjustment targets, while the EU's internal problems have sometimes hampered rapid progress in the talks."
"We are somewhat concerned that Spain's position regarding structural funds could delay the process of enlargement," said Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Bartoszewski at a news conference last week.
With Spain's tack on negotiations, observers see national interest overtaking general community policy.
"To me it's an example of how intergovernmental Europe is taking a lead over community Europe and how a national government is using community resources to pursue its own interests," said Marek Kucia, a lecturer at Jagellonian University's Center for European Studies.
Kucia said that 2005 is a realistic date for accession and described the most recent delays as typical for the EU.
"It's nothing peculiar," he said. "It's been like that all the time. Since the very beginning in the early 1990s we've been put on hold and dates have been postponed. This is another episode."
