Swedish agriculture official: Poland should get full rights, delaying EU entry

Per-Goran Ojeheim, deputy agriculture minister of Sweden, which has assumed EU leadership for the first half of 2001, said that Polish farmers should have full access to EU farming aid, but he admitted that many current members will be reluctant to grant Poland such rights. Ojeheim said that Polish farmers, as well as slaughterhouse and dairy owners, should get the same aid as their EU counterparts, once they fulfill all sanitary and veterinary norms. However, since this would cost the EU some euro 3 billion - euro 4 billion a year, it is likely to be a major obstacle in negotiations. As a result, the Swedish minister expects accession talks to stretch until the end of 2003, putting Poland's entry off until 2005. The official entry target of the Polish government, meanwhile, is Jan. 1, 2003. Talks on farming are also likely to be delayed by the reform of EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which is slated to be agreed in the years 2002 and 2003. (Rzeczpospolita, p.B1) T.J.