Setting the scene

"So, do you not think they are ready to join the European Union?" teases Andrzej Chrobak, chief advisor for transnational cooperation with the Agency for the Reconstruction and Modernisation of Agriculture (ARIMR), which is in charge of managing the SAPARD1 programme in Poland. Mr Chrobak is taking his French guest on a tour of several farms which are benefiting from the programme, including Jadwiga and Zdzislaw Sidorek's dairy farm in Jeleniewo. Thanks to SAPARD aid of EUR 12 400, the Sidorek's have been able to equip to European standards their new farm building, in which their 35 cows are free to move around. "We have submitted a new application," says Zdzislaw: "this is for EUR 10,000 to purchase a new kind of bedding for better animal welfare." Their initiative is typical of these young Polish farmers who are determined to ensure that their farms survive and thrive after Poland joins the Union. "They are genuine entrepreneurs, determined and open to innovation," says Grzegorz Chelminski, of the ARIMR regional office. We are in the north of the voivodie (region) of Podlaskie, and more precisely in the poviats (districts) of Augustow, Suwalki, Grajewo and Sejny, in the far north-eastern corner of Poland, on the Polish-Belorussian-Lithuanian border and close to the Russian enclave of Kalingrad. Dairy farming is the principal agricultural activity in this area. SAPARD therefore mainly finances investments to improve the production and environmental management of dairy farms, permitting the purchase of feeding equipment, milking machines, processing units for animal waste, slurry spreaders, etc. The Sidoreks have just one fear: "of being the only dairy producers in the district who comply with European standards, with the risk of seeing the milk plant stop coming here because it is no longer profitable. It is the wait-and-see approach which dominates here: many farmers will only decide after accession whether to continue or not." In Grajewo, the milk plant (with a workforce of 450) is one of six plants of the "Mlekpol" cooperative, which has 13 000 members and is supplied by 15 000 farmers. Active in Mazuria and northern Podlaskie, but marketing its range of products throughout the country, this leading Polish producer of UHT milk recently invested EUR 4 million in a butter production unit. 40% of the cost of this ultra-sophisticated equipment - "the very best in Europe" according to its production manager, Groszyk Zbigniew - was met by SAPARD. On foot, on horseback and by kayak With a per capita GDP in 2001 of just 31% of the EU15 average (compared with 41% for Poland as a whole and 64% for the Warsaw region), Podlaskie is a poor region, but rich in potential. In the north, it has many assets for tourism development. The "Via Baltica" (E67), the most direct road linking Finland to Central Europe via the Baltic States, runs through this region of a thousand lakes. 50% of Northern Podlaskie's surface area is also covered with dense woodland, one of Europe's last remaining primeval forests. It is a natural paradise, ideal for hiking, cycling, horseriding, and canoeing. The vast network of lakes and the Augustow Canal, modelled on the Canal de Midi in France, permits trips of several days by canoe, kayak and other water craft. This resource is already being exploited in Augustow (pop. 30 000), where three boat and yacht building yards provide jobs for over 1 000 local people. In partnership with the PHARE2 programme, the Municipality of Augustow has embarked on an ambitious programme of urban regeneration and tourism development centred around the canal (EUR 7 million, including EUR 4.2 million from the Community). The municipal authorities view tourism as an essential element in the development of this town which has been a spa resort since 1993. Augustow has 4 000 beds and receives 4 000 visitors per year. "We must extend the season, which is still too reliant on July and August, and attract more foreign tourists in order to create as many jobs as possible," explains Leslek Cieslik, mayor of Augustow. Despite shipbuilding, the assembly of agricultural machinery, water cures and a cigarette factory, unemployment in Augustow never drops below 16%, not even in the summer months. Canal Viewed by the European Commission Delegation in Warsaw as "one of the most complex European projects in Poland", the PHARE project "Upgrading and Marketing the Augustow Canal" involved restoring 2 800 metres of canal banks. It also consisted in repairing five of the town's principal roads leading to the canal - including a section of the Via Baltica and providing everything from drainage pipes to lighting, paving and urban furniture - and building an information centre on the central square (futuristic architecture in the form of a boat), complete with a tourist kiosk, cafeteria, conference room, etc. A number of areas in the town centre have also been set aside for businesses. Completed between the spring and winter of 2003, the result is an integrated and structured development, which combines economic activities with improvements to the quality of life of the inhabitants. "What we must do now is acquire the tools - website, brochures, stand, etc. - to enable us to promote the canal abroad,” adds the project manager and vice mayor of Augustow Jerzy Demianczuk, who points out that these works at Augustow are just the beginning. "We hope to see this project stimulate others all along the canal. The canal has 14 locks in Poland, one of which forms the border with Belorussia, and another four inside Belorussia. The Belorussian authorities have just decided to restore them by 2005 and even to install a checkpoint at the border lock to facilitate the necessary formalities to enable the canoeists to pass through." Lying 31 km north of Augustow, Suwalki (pop. 68 000) is more industrial and home to 150 SMEs active in primary and secondary wood processing. The town is also a centre for cheese-making, poultry production and light metallurgy. A free zone created in 1996 currently provides a base for about 20 companies active in a wide range of sectors. However, despite this, the town still has an unemployment rate of over 22% and suffers from social problems and crime. Between 1995 and 1999, the Municipality of Suwalki implemented nine PHARE projects costing a total of EUR 1.7 million, including EUR 0.6 million of Community funding. These projects focused mainly on roadbuilding and small urban infrastructural works. The PHARE "Economic and Social Cohesion programme 2002" is currently co-financing (EUR 1.94 million out of a total cost of EUR 2.88 million) the building of technical infrastructure and access roads for 25 ha of business parks in Suwalki. Suwalki was also one of the first beneficiaries of ISPA3 aid in Poland. Launched in 2001, the "Water quality improvement project in Suwalki" (total cost: EUR 12 468 million, 50% Union funded) aims to ensure that the sewage and piped water supply system in the town and villages in the municipal area comply with European standards. This involves: building 25 km of water pipes, 55 km of drainage pipes, 44 pumping stations and two waste water treatment plants; the creation of a water purification plant with a capacity of 600 m³ an hour; the installation at the Suwalki purification plant of cogenerators using renewable energy, especially biogas; the purchase of remote controlled devices for nine pumping stations; and the drawing up of a blueprint for water management. Ecology, economy, education In addition to an improved quality of life for the local population, the ISPA project is also helping to protect the unique aquatic environment of the Wigry National Park (150 km²) which is bordered by several localities in the Suwalki district. "This other positive impact of the project is very important ecologically and economically," explains Jozef Gajewski, mayor of Suwalki. "Tourism is also an essential axis of development for us and the park, with its lakes and its beavers, is our principal tourist attraction." The mayor then reeled off a long list of projects he would like to see implemented: regeneration of the city centre, renovation of 146 old buildings, upgrading of a small aerodrome, laying out of cycle paths, horseriding trails and cross-country skiing trails. "We are certainly not short of ideas, or resources. What is mainly lacking is more fundamental: good lines of communication with the exterior to break the region's isolation." "We would also like to create a science park and cross-border innovation centre with Lithuania,” adds Przybysz Darlusz, manager of ISPA environmental projects for the municipality of Suwalki. "In partnership with ISPA, we are also implementing a series of smaller projects which could be very useful for cross-border cooperation. Such as the waste water separators installed on the Czarna Hancza, which also runs into Lithuania." Witliasz Rychlik, president of the Suwalki Water Company, sees another merit in the ISPA project he is implementing: "ISPA has taught us a great deal at the methodological level. Thanks to these projects we have become familiar with the Community spirit, procedures and good practices. We really are ready to join you, you know!" (1) SAPARD ("Special Accession Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development"), programme launched in 2000 to facilitate the adaptation of farming structures and rural areas in the Central and Eastern European candidate countries. (2) Founded in 1989, originally for Poland and Hungary, PHARE ("Poland, Hungary, Aid for Economic Reconstruction") is active in all the Central and Eastern European candidate countries. PHARE focuses on two priorities: helping the public authorities in the candidate countries to acquire the necessary means to implement the acquis communautaire, and supporting investments in fields where they are needed: basic infrastructures, enterprises, social measures. (3) The ISPA ("Structural instrument for pre-accession") supports major investments in transport and environmental infrastructures in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia. During the 2000-2004 period, the European Commission approved 324 projects for a total ISPA contribution of EUR 7 billion.