UKIE report shows companies grossly unprepared to work in single market

Over 50% of companies have still not yet begun to prepare to operate on the single EU market. According to a study conducted by the Committee for European Integration (UKIE), the business community are not aware of the changes which are going to take place once Poland joins the EU. "The legal system is very well adapting to EU requirements. Unfortunately, this does not directly effect domestic producers' awareness and knowledge concerning what to change in their companies. The situation among small and medium sized enterprises is critical and there is very little time left," said Marcin Gancarz, of UKIE's Department for Social and Economic Analysis. According to data presented at yesterday's European Seminar organized by Raiffeisen Bank Polska, it shows that 57% of enterprises have not yet begun even to prepare for the impact of EU membership. In fact, as many as 92% of companies have not yet even tried to estimate the costs of functioning on the common market. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B3) A.K.