Threat to the Nice Treaty raises the possibility of a delay in EU expansion

The European Union's Nice Treaty of 2000, the terms of which are considered quite favorable for Poland, may never be implemented, as a result of anticipated EU reforms. Under the Treaty, which was approved in December 2000, Poland is granted the same number of votes in the EU as Spain, along with the right to appoint one EU commissioner and to take up a certain number of seats in the European Parliament. However last week, Valery Giscard d'Estaing, who heads the European convention for reforms, said the Nice Treaty might never go into effect. This is the likely scenario, he claimed, if the planned EU reforms are completed before January 1, 2005, when the Treaty is to become implemented in full. Such legal wrangling, as well as the lack of support for the Nice Treaty in some EU states, as demonstrated by the Irish rejection of it in a referendum, could threaten to delay EU expansion to 2005 or 2006. (Gazeta Wyborcza, Feb. 2-3, p. 6) T.J.