Poland's entry into EU like making a fish from fish soup

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

It's easy to make fish soup from fish. But how to make fish from fish soup?

Poland's embryonic experience in the world's most powerful as well as prosperous regional organization -- the European Union (EU) -- gives some clues to the question of how to make fish from fish soup.

A year after the EU's biggest historical enlargement, the bloc's 10 new member states have enjoyed significant economic benefits, said Poland's new Ambassador to Indonesia Tomasz Lukaszuk.

Speaking at a seminar on the European Union (EU) in Jakarta, the ambassador said that his country's accession to the EU after a long and tough journey had helped improve the country's macroeconomic stability, which in turn attracted more foreign direct investment to Poland, the biggest among the 10 countries that joined the EU.

"The foreign direct investment flows have increased investment activities mainly due to improved economic conditions for investors," Lukaszuk said.

He said that the surge in investment activities could also be attributed to the lower labor costs versus productivity ratio in the accession countries.

"EU membership has also led to improved international credibility as the new members have to comply with most of the EU provisions and policies," he said.

For Poland, a country that suffered under a communist regime for several decades, the first year in the EU was a remarkable experience. Last year, foreign investments in Poland reached almost US$7 billion after a fall from 2001 to 2003 while the gross domestic product (GDP) grew by over 5 percent.

The Polish currency has also strengthened since the country's entry into the EU -- the zloty appreciated by 25 percent to the American greenback and 20 percent to the Euro.

Lukaszuk said the country's industrial production, the main driver of Poland's economic growth, also increased by 14.6 percent.

"The overall production growth rate reached a level of 12.3 percent against 8.4 percent a year before the accession," he said.

The European Commission (EC), the executive arm of the EU, released earlier an assessment highlighting the economic benefits for the 10 new member countries, including eight ex-communist states, and the 15 old EU states.

The commission said the GDP growth in the 10 newcomers soared to an average 5 percent last year and forecasted the enlargement would add 0.7 percent to GDP in the old 15 over the next decade.

For example, Latvia's GDP is estimated to have grown by 8.5 percent in 2004 while Lithuania, Estonia, Slovakia also fared well over 5 percent.

In terms of the labor market, Poland's ambassador said that unemployment decreased dropping below three million registered unemployed persons, a level last reported three years ago.

"Poles are able to work legally in some other countries of the EU, including Britain, Ireland and Sweden and after a transitional period of up to 10 years they will have access to the labor markets of all member countries," he said.

He said that in the year 2008, unemployment should be below 10 percent.

In the runup to enlargement with over 450 million people, many feared that there would be a flood of migrant workers from poor new states seeking jobs in the richer West.

In their welcome address, both the Dutch Ambassador Ruud Treffers, whose country holds the EU presidency in Indonesia on behalf of Luxembourg and the Ambassador/head of the EC Delegation to Indonesia Jean Breteche, laid emphasis on the growing ties between Indonesia and the EU.

The one-day seminar was organized by the EC delegation to Indonesia as part of Europe Month 2005.