Brussels, 01/07/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Friday, the European Commission announced it was on the point of adopting the decision aimed at entrusting Polish authorities with management of Sapard aid (pre-accession aid in favour of the agricultural sector and rural development-. After Bulgaria, Estonia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Poland is the eighth candidate country to receive practical advantages from this programme, which has a budget of EUR 171.6 million per year. The first tranche of EUR 40 million may be paid to Poland. The Commission specifies that the Sapard programmes has not yet become operational in two candidate countries, namely Hungary and Romania.
The programme in favour of Polish agriculture comprises three main themes: - improved processing and marketing of agricultural and fisheries products; - investment in farms; - and development of the rural infrastructure. Furthermore, funding is foreseen for vocational training and technical assistance. The decision will be formally adopted in the next few days.