Poland under pressure to repay EU 3m euro

Date: 11/04/02

By David Cronin

BUDGET chief Michaele Schreyer is pressing Poland to repay about €3 million in EU funding over claims that favouritism was shown to computer giant Hewlett Packard when it bid for a lucrative government contract.

The money was granted under the Phare programme for EU applicant states in central Europe. Its intended purpose was to help the country establish a database on its agriculture sector, but the project became enmeshed in controversy.

Officials in charge of the tendering procedure were accused of having links with Hewlett Packard, the company which won the €168 million database contract.

'The Commission has very strong views on this,' said Schreyer during a visit to Warsaw last weekend. 'When there has been an irregularity, it is necessary to make a recovery [of the money involved].'

Polish premier Leszek Miller has vowed to ensure that his ruling coalition supervises the use of EU financing more rigorously than the previous government, voted out of office last year.

He said: 'Our chief concern is not to allow this to happen again - particularly as our estimates show we could lose around €50 million in [unused] EU aid due to poor administration and the inefficiency of local government.'

European Commissioner responsible for the budget, Michaele Schreyer, is pressing Poland to repay about €3 million in EU funding after claims that favouritism was shown to computer giant Hewlett Packard when it bid for a lucrative government contract.