Feature: Polish view of EU accession

WARSAW, Poland, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- "When Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen heard our proposals, his face went green," recalled Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller on his government's last-minute negotiations with the EU in Copenhagen, Denmark, last Friday.

Rasmussen's reaction was quite natural, given that Friday was the very last day of 5-year accession negotiations that Poland plus nine other countries hoped to close in Copenhagen. They did so, but only after Poland's prolonged talks, which tested the patience of the Danish hosts, other EU members, other candidates, and the Polish delegation.

In summary, the battle concerned the amount of money Poland can add to the EU's subsidies to Polish agriculture, Poland's milk production quota, and -- last but not least -- how many additional euros the EU was ready to offer to Poland as budget compensation and so-called structural funds (money to be spent on important macro projects, such as infrastructure). Smaller issues included a request for the EU's agreement to recognize the professional qualifications of Polish nurses.

On Dec. 13, the anniversary of the martial law introduced by Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski in 1981, the Polish delegation closed the difficult talks, and emerged successful, though not completely victorious. Full victory was impossible, because were it to happen, Poland would first have had to present demands that would have caused Rasmussen to show the Polish delegation the door and ask them never to come back. Aware of that, the prime minister and his team stuck to propositions that were more realistic, though not much less difficult to achieve.

What they achieved was, first, an additional injection of 1 billion euros ($1.03 billion) to the Polish budget in the years 2004-2006. This, in fact, was a concession that the EU could have afforded without any bigger pain, as the money would be paid to Poland anyway, only later and in the form of structural funds. But to Poland, it was all the difference.

Another issue paramount to the success of the negotiations was how high the subsidies to Polish agriculture would be. It was well-known before Friday that the EU money would account for 40 percent of what the established EU states offer their farmers. The question was how much the Polish budget would be allowed to add to the EU subsidies from its own money. The overall subsidies can now be 55 percent, 60 percent or 65 percent of those in the EU, with anything over 40 percent being paid from the Polish national budget. This solution raises a few questions, as the figures given are the maximum level of subsidies, and it is not certain whether the Polish budget would be wealthy enough to afford that much over the guaranteed EU money.

Finally, the Polish milk production quota was agreed at 8.964 million tons, including 8.5 million tons scheduled for wholesale, an increase from 7 million tons.

Comparatively minor agreements at the negotiation table include maintaining a 7 percent VAT on construction services and new apartments until 2007, an additional 108 million euros for strengthening Poland's eastern border, which otherwise would have to be assigned from the national budget, and, finally, the recognition in the EU of Polish nurses' professional qualifications.

Those concrete and largely financial solutions may contrast with both sides' declarations about the Copenhagen meeting's historic meaning. As if dry accounting took over Poland's long journey from a badly managed Communist country to a fresh member of the European Union, in a market only slightly smaller than that of the United States.

Most players on the political scene in Poland welcomed the outcome of the negotiations. Most enthusiastic were, obviously, the ruling parties of Social democrats, Polish Peasants Party, and Labor Union. The pro-EU opposition found itself in a difficult position as it could not openly criticize Miller for his conduct in Denmark; nor could it burst out with enthusiasm toward the government it opposes. So its voice remained rather quiet and limited to mild disapproval of the concrete results of the negotiations, usually in the form of "we could have gotten more".

Now the negotiations are over, the next key element in the EU puzzle that Poland wants to put in order successfully, is the accession referendum, scheduled for May 2003. Anti-EU political parties that deny any wish to join the EU, such as the extreme right-wing League of Polish Families, have their "Vote No" campaigns already under way, to get in full swing early next year. Another extremist party, Self-defense, which originated as a farmers' trade union, says it is not against the accession as such, only against Polish membership on the negotiated conditions, described as exceptionally bad.

With the EU enthusiasts certainly guaranteed a substantial time in the media, it is unlikely, though, that the "Vote No" movement will be successful. Perhaps the biggest force behind Euro-haters is Catholic Radio Maryja with its daily "Nasz Dziennik," but it seems that it will not be strong enough.

A telephone poll conducted right after Copenhagen by the Pentor polling company showed 72 percent of interviewees declaring their support for Poland's accession to the EU. The EU followers would have to make disastrous blunders to concede a defeat in the truly historic referendum.