Poland to fight EU's "imperialist" entry terms

Poland will fight "draconian" and "imperialist" demands from the European Union in the last weeks of enlargement negotiations, the head of the Polish parliament's powerful European committee said.

Tough talking former Prime Minister Jozef Oleksy said a flexible and innovative approach by both sides was needed to ensure a compromise palatable to Polish voters is struck by the deadline - the mid-December EU summit in Copenhagen.

Poland is the largest of 10 mostly east European states hoping to join the EU in 2004 in the bloc's biggest expansion and first into countries once dominated by Soviet communism.

Oleksy said Poland should negotiate to stagger or delay its payments to the bloc's budget to ensure the country's stretched finances can cope during the early years of EU membership.

"I cannot imagine holding an EU entry referendum in Poland in a situation where we are net contributors. This would be inexplicable for Poles, just as is the proposal for Poland to help finance Britain's EU refund," Oleksy told Reuters.

Under current financing arrangements, Poland must contribute more than e200 million in 2004 to a refund the bloc gives far richer Britain on its payments to Brussels.

Poland will hold a vote on EU entry by mid-2003 and needs a good financial package to convince farmers and poorer sections of society that membership will bring them benefits. Currently, opinion polls show a two to one majority backing EU entry.

Oleksy called a plan to phase in subsidies for Polish farmers over 10 years an "imperial demand," which would curtail the rights of new members to negotiate a better farm deal during talks on the bloc's budget for 2007-2013.

"I hope we can compromise on a transition period (for partial subsidies) until 2006... and only later, as EU members, negotiate on the need for extensions to the phase-in period, which will probably be needed."

Oleksy said the EU could make "a meaningful gesture" without boosting enlargement costs by shifting money for infrastructure into more generous rural subsidies, boosting the competitiveness of Polish farmers in the wake of enlargement.

Brussels wants to start subsidies for candidate state farmers at 25 per cent of what present EU member states get.

Oleksy said many Poles held unrealistic expectations of huge benefits from EU entry, which, once brought back down to earth by negotiations, could turn them away from the EU.

In Poland's vast rural areas and numerous small towns, Eurosceptic and populist parties won the second largest number of votes in last month's local elections, trailing only Oleksy's ruling Democratic Left Alliance.

"Expectations have been overblown. Saying a flood of EU money will sweep into Poland is groundless, and here mostly Polish politicians are at fault," Oleksy said.

"The balance of benefits from accession are longer-term, strategic and civilisational - while the first year of membership is a mathematical column of payments and benefits."

Oleksy, Poland's representative to the EU's reform body, the Convention, blasted member states for behaving selfishly instead of fostering the historic process which will complete the unification of Europe after the 1989 collapse of communism.

"There is some egotistical falseness in the EU saying one or two billion euros more in costs is too much of a burden. We know this is the biggest and cheapest EU expansion in history."