EU urges candidates not to reopen deals

The European Union is becoming increasingly jittery about signs that some candidate countries wish to reopen negotiations on key problem areas, fearing such a move could complicate enlargement plans, diplomats say.

Ten, mostly ex-communist, candidate states are racing to close accession talks on 31 "chapters", or policy areas, by the end of this year, paving the way for EU enlargement in 2004.

But at least two of those countries, Hungary and Poland, have signalled they are not happy with deals already concluded with the EU and want to push for better conditions.

"A message has to be passed (to the candidates) that it is very dangerous now to start thinking `let`s raise old grudges, let`s put things back on the table`," said one senior EU diplomat involved in the enlargement negotiations.

Reopening done deals could waste precious time and put the EU`s enlargement timetable in jeopardy, he said.

Hungary`s centre-left government-in-waiting has criticised its predecessor for a deal that would allow EU citizens living and farming there for three years to buy farmland and enable any EU citizen to do so seven years after Hungary joins the EU.

Poland won a longer transition period, restricting foreign land purchases for up to 12 years.

Viktor Orban`s outgoing right-wing Hungarian government had already expressed dismay at the unequal treatment and sent a letter to Brussels asking for a modification of the original deal, struck before Poland clinched its own accord.

Poland itself has said it wants to reopen negotiations on taxation to seek a better deal on value-added tax on construction materials similar to one reached by two other candidates, the Czech Republic and Slovenia.

Deputy Prime Minister Marek Pol said he hoped for Brussels` understanding for Poland`s request, meant to boost infrastructure projects and curb record high unemployment.

But it is the question of land sales to foreigners, which comes under the EU policy heading of the "free movement of capital", that has sparked most upset among candidates.

This is particularly sensitive in central and eastern Europe, a region haunted by recent memories of domination by powerful neighbours, shifting borders and large-scale deportations.

In Lithuania, lawmakers have criticised the government for wrapping up talks on land sales without demanding any temporary restrictions on foreigners.

Lithuania has not asked to reopen the chapter, but some in the small Baltic republic want to push for a seven-year ban on foreign companies, though not individuals, buying land.

Hungary says it wants a "safeguard mechanism" allowing it to prolong its seven-year transition period if land prices in the country remain well below average EU levels.

The European Commission, the EU executive which is guiding the enlargement talks, says Poland - by far the largest country negotiating EU entry - is a special case.

"It is not realistic (for others) to ask for something close to what Poland asked for and got," Eneko Landaburu, Director General for Enlargement in the Commission, told reporters.

The issue of land sales to foreigners is political dynamite in Poland, which has a vocal farm lobby that plays on fears that Germans, who occupied their country in 1939-45, will rush to buy up its arable land after accession.

Diplomats note that when it suits them, advanced candidates such as Hungary espouse the principle of "differentiation", whereby deals struck should take into account the historic, economic and geographical conditions of each country.

The 10 countries hoping to finish negotiations by December are Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus and Malta. Bulgaria and Romania hope to join the EU later in the decade.