Poland

In its 1997 Opinion, the Commission concluded that Poland fulfilled the political criteria. Since that time, the country has made considerable progress in further consolidating and deepening the stability of its institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities. Over the past year, further efforts have been made in this direction. Poland continues to fulfil the Copenhagen political criteria.

In the area of public administration progress in the implementation of the 1999 Civil Service Law continues. Further efforts are required to speed up the pace of implementation and ensure that an independent, well trained and motivated civil service is in place by the time of accession.

Poland has continued to make progress in reforming the judiciary and in reducing the most pressing bottlenecks. The pace of reform needs to be accelerated and issues relating to judicial immunity further addressed.

Additional steps have been taken, including the adoption of much needed legislation, in the fight against corruption, which remains a source of serious concern. The focus must now be on ensuring a coherent approach to corruption, implementing the legislation and above all on developing an administrative and business culture which can resist corruption.

There has been some progress in establishing the legal framework for equal opportunities and further work needs to be undertaken in this regard.

A new element which has come to light has been the abuse of custody, which has been reported in certain cases. This needs to be addressed and the first steps have already been taken in this respect.

The reinforcement of administrative and judicial capacity, improving the operation of the judiciary and its training in EC law were Accession Partnership priorities. Work is underway but further efforts are needed.

Poland is a functioning market economy. Provided that it continues and intensifies its present reform efforts in a consistent policy environment, it should be able to cope with the competitive pressure and market forces within the Union, in the near term.

In the first part of the reporting period, it maintained adequate macroeconomic stability, and its growth performance was again solid, before growth experienced a significant slowdown starting in the second half of last year. Privatisation continued and there has been further restructuring in sensitive sectors such as the coal and power industries. The legal framework for business has been strengthened with the adoption of the new bankruptcy law and the new Commercial Code.

The sharp decline in growth reflects in large parts problems in the macroeconomic policy mix - the co­ordination of fiscal and monetary policy. Already high unemployment has risen further and the budget deficit is on a rising path. Fiscal adjustment must take place in order to contribute to a more suitable policy mix and not to endanger the medium­term sustainability of public finances. This would also help to reassure markets and boost business confidence. The authorities should speed up privatisation and restructuring in some key sectors, such as in some traditional industries or in agriculture. They should proceed with clear plans to remove obstacles to market exit and indirect state aid in the form of tax or social security arrears, which hinder the functioning of market forces. The implementation of bankruptcy procedures must improve. Further measures need to be taken to improve Poland's infrastructure and the response of the labour markets to changing economic conditions.

The reporting period has seen intensive work on the adoption of legislation. In some areas there have been notable breakthroughs with regard to the adoption of primary legislation. In others, there has been a steady consolidation of the achievements of 2000 through the adoption of the necessary secondary legislation on the basis of the framework laws adopted the previous year. This process of consolidation and putting flesh on the legislative bones is vital in terms of the future ability to implement the acquis and one where efforts will have to be further intensified. The need for further effort applies even more to the strengthening of the administrative capacity to implement the acquis. There have been further developments in this regard, but the divergence between progress in this area and in adopting legislation remains great.

With regard to the internal market, efforts in a number of areas have, following the earlier adoption of the framework legislation, focused on the secondary legislation necessary to implement the acquis in these areas, in particular standards and certification and state aid. Both of these are areas in which Poland's existing obligations necessitate implementation prior to the date of accession, and where there has been limited progress. In the case of standards and certification considerable efforts are required to develop the necessary administrative capacity. This is not the case in competition where the capacity exists but where implementation has been limited. There has been progress in the elements of food safety which relate to the internal market through the adoption of the framework law but substantial efforts remain in adopting secondary legislation and developing the administrative capacity. The industrial property law has been adopted although short term difficulties remain with regard to data exclusivity arising out of the new pharmaceutical law. While there has been some improvement in administrative structures, efforts need to be intensified with an emphasis on enforcement.

Poland's track record in the free movement of services and capital continues to be good and furtherwork has been undertaken to strengthen the administrative capacity in these domains. There has been considerable legislative progress in the area of public procurement and some progress in terms of the free movement of persons. Further efforts will be necessary to ensure the smooth integration of Poland into the internal market.

In the telecommunications area implementation of the existing legislation has been gradual. There has been limited progress in further aligning rates of indirect taxation and further work is required to ensure that the systems are in place to allow for the exchange of computerised data between the EC and Poland.

With regard to EMU, there have been no legislative developments towards reinforcing the independence of the National Bank.

There has been some progress in industrial policy. Necessary steps have been taken to resolve outstanding issues in the steel sector but these will need to be followed through with vigour.

In the agriculture sector, a coherent strategy for the sector is still lacking. The substantial transformation which is needed, in terms of policy, legislation and structures has not yet taken place in either the agriculture or fisheries sectors. In both sectors there has been some progress with regard to primary legislation, notably in the case of veterinary legislation for agriculture. The administrative capacity remains extremely weak for fisheries and weaknesses have become apparent in agriculture in particular with regard to the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) and border inspection, both in the veterinary and phyto­sanitary fields.

In the environment sector significant progress has been made in terms of primary legislation. The energy and in particular the transport sectors have seen some progress. In all three sectors considerable further work is also required to strengthen the administrative capacity. This is particularly the case for the environment where regional as well as national structures need to be reinforced.

There have been few developments with regard to regional policy. In the social field, progress has focused on public health legislation, while enforcement remains a matter of concern most notably concerning occupational health and safety. Additional efforts are required in this respect, in particular to strengthen the Labour Inspectorates. Progress continues in justice and home affairs, especially with regard to the border guards and border management, where the Customs business strategy previously adopted is being implemented. Efforts have been made to improve the situation with regard to law enforcement bodies dealing with the fight against organised crime, in particular the police services. These need to be intensified. Further efforts are required in the customs area to align with the acquis and to ensure the establishment of an effective implementation capacity. Significant legislative progress has been noted in terms of internal financial control, the challenge will now be to put in place the necessary control mechanisms.

Poland has made further progress in aligning its legislation notably through secondary legislation. As has previously been noted this effort needs to be matched, in order to adapt and strengthen the structures required with a view to accession. In a number of sectors the level of administrative capacity lags behind. Further efforts are also required in establishing the necessary administrative capacity to ensure the sound, efficient and controllable management of EC funds.

This disparity between progress in the adoption of legislation and the reinforcement of administrative capacity is reflected in the extent to which the short­term priorities of the accession partnership have been addressed. There has been further progress in meeting the acquis based elements. Continued efforts are needed to set up or strengthen administrative capacities across the board notably on certification, agriculture, fisheries and regional policy, the social field, customs and justice and home affairs.

Poland has started to make progress in meeting all the medium­term priorities. Progress has been varied, with the most obvious developments relating to the legislative elements of the priorities. This will provide the basis for the development of the necessary administrative capacity to ensure implementation. Efforts commenced in this regard will need to be intensified.