BONN, June 28: Central and East European countries aspiring to join the European Union (EU) will not be given any concession on the prescribed economic standards and regulations, except for a limited grace period in exceptional cases. The reported pleas of several candidate nations for granting them protection for certain sectors was rejected by the 15-member European Union at a recent meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Salzburg.Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia and Slovenia are expected to be in the list of "eastern applicants" to join an expanded eu in 2003.According to the chief EU negotiator for eastward expansion Nikolaus Pas, there would be no exemptions from the rules covering EU's 80,000 pages of regulations. The Polish leaders are in favour of seeking a grace period to meet EU's environmental standards, which would put a heavy burden on industries that are still adapting to competition with the union.
The volume of trade between the EU and the Central and Eastern Europe(CEE) has increased manifold after a spectacular growth in the latter group of countries.
The increased trade volume and huge flow of investment from the western Europe to the east bloc have, in fact, neutralised factors like a $40-billion trade deficit of CEE with EU (in 1997), fallouts of Russian economic crisis, political instability in the Balkans and faltering restructuring programmes of certain countries.
However, once the single currency euro is launched by the 11-member European Monetary Union (EMU) in next January, the trade between euro-zone countries and their neighbours including the CEE, is expected to fall, at least initially.
According to analysts, the elimination of currency-related transaction costs among these countries could prompt a reassessment of many international trading decisions.
Meanwhile, the European Commission, the executive body of the EU has announced a US $110 billion package to upgrade roads, railways, air and seaports in the East European countries about to joinEU.
Most of this cost, about $100 million European currency units, estimated to be 1.5 per cent of their annual GDP, is to be spent in less than two decades for the modernisation programme.
The plan envisages building or upgrading 12,000 km roads, 20,300 km rail lines, 38 airports and 13 ports on seas and 14 on rivers.
The projects cover Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovania, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria which expect to join the EU in the next decade.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
