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Poland Postcommunist Policy Adjustments
In early 1990 the Mazowiecki government planned to
maintain
Poland's high export volume to the Soviet Union for an
indefinite
period. The goal of this plan was to ensure a long-term
position
for Poland in that important market and to protect
domestic
industry from a further decline in production and
increased
unemployment. Subsequently, however, an export limit
became
necessary to avoid accumulating an excessive surplus of
useless
transferable rubles. In 1992, after the Soviet Union split
into a
number of independent states, the Polish government had no
indication whether existing balances would ever be
exchanged into
convertible currencies, or under what conditions that
might
happen.
In December 1991, Poland reached agreement on associate
membership in the European Community (EC). Having taken
this
intermediate step, the Polish government set the goal of
full EC
membership by the year 2000. Among the provisions of
associate
membership were gradual removal of EC tariffs and quotas
on
Polish food exports; immediate removal of EC tariffs on
most
industrial goods imported from Poland and full membership
for
Poland in the EC free trade area for industrial goods in
1999; EC
financial aid to restructure the Polish economy; and
agreements
on labor transfer, rights of settlement, cultural
cooperation,
and other issues. The agreement, which required
ratification by
the Polish government, all twelve member nations of the
EC, and
the European Parliament, went into interim operation as
those
bodies considered its merits. Both houses of the Polish
parliament ratified the agreement in July 1992.
Data as of October 1992
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