Frank Elbe, the German ambassador in Poland believes that the economic slow down in his country is not effecting trade between Warsaw and Berlin nor inward investment into this country.
He also considers the comments of EU enlargement commissioner Guenter Verheugen that Poland may not be in the first wave of new entrants to be like that of a cold shower for those backing this country’s integration.
He thinks that Poland could finish talks next year and enter in 2004.
Despite the strong PLN and changes to the European economy, Germany remains the main trading partner for Poland.
Over one third of Poland’s exports go to Germany.
The value of this business is more than PLN25bn.
Imports are now around PLN23.6bn.
There are also more German firms investing in Poland than from any other country.
In terms of capital, Germany comes in third position behind France and the USA.
Two hundred and three German companies have invested in Poland as opposed to 81 from France and 123 from the USA.