Brussels, 29/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - The EU/Poland Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), co-chaired by Jean-Louis Bourlanges (French, UDF) and former Polish Prime Minister, now member of parliament, Jozef Olesky, spoke out last week in favour of balanced and mutually acceptable solutions in accession negotiations over difficult chapters with strong financial implications, such as agriculture and regional policy. At a meeting in Warsaw, the European and Polish parliamentarians considered that the recent EU proposals on funding enlargement could, on the whole, be considered as a "good working basis" that could lead to agreement at the end of negotiations. "The Joint Parliamentary Committee expects solutions to be found to enable Poland to be a net beneficiary in payment and commitments from the beginning", we read in the conclusions. The JPC considers that the issue of introducing direct payments to Polish farmers should be "open to discussion" and that "an optimal solution" concerning the length of the transitional period will have to be found (we know that the Commission has proposed a 10-year period, considered as too long by candidate countries). Given the importance of the agricultural sector in Poland, the aim of agricultural accession negotiations should be to find "mutually acceptable solutions", that do not distort competition rules between the farms in the Single Market of an enlarged European Union, the parliamentarians stress. The JPC also launched an appeal for a "clear separation" between accession negotiations and the future reform of the CAP. Regarding regional aid, the European and Polish parliamentarians pleaded in favour of a mechanism that ensures, in the framework of the structural and cohesion policy, "candidate countries receiving financial support per capita at the same level as the support provided to the EU regions and Member States, having a comparable level of economic development". As for Poland's preparations for accession, the JPC placed special emphasis on the need to forcefully combat the phenomenon of corruption, which remains a "source of serious concern", to pursue economic reforms and improve administrative and institutional capabilities. The JPC also welcomed the intention of European Parliament President, Pat Cox, of inviting, this year still, parliamentarians from candidate countries to debate enlargement in the EP and granting them "observer" status as soon as they have signed the Accession Treaty.