After two years of relatively straightforward talks, the moment of truth has arrived in Poland_s bid to join the European Union.

Poland, the biggest of the 12 EU candidate nations, is knocking as hard on the door as possible. "The real negotiations will begin under France_s presidency," of the European Union which begins in July and will last six months, Jan Kulakowski, Poland_s chief negotiator in the candidacy talks, told AFP. Kulakowski aims to prepare the ground with talks in Paris over the next few days with France_s European Affairs Minister Pierre Moscovici. Poland continues to tell whoever will listen that it will be ready to join the European Union in January 2003, vainly hoping that the EU executive, the European Commission, will pick up the date as an official objective. The biggest obstacles which remains is the adoption of a raft of 176 laws to adapt Poland_s legislation to EU norms, representing a Herculean task for the administration here. So far 54 legal changes have been presented to the Diet, the lower house parliament. A further 50 should be ready by the end of the year, a dozen in 2001 and 55 in 2002.