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Hundreds of small dairy producers in Poland face closure if they fail to improve hygiene and animal welfare standards ahead of EU entry. Strict EU monitoring is expected to cause problems for farmers in all the candidate countries of Central and Eastern Europe. But in Poland the problem is affecting regions already depressed by high unemployment figures

Only 3% of the EU's population are farmers yet Agriculture accounts for 50% of the European Commission's budget. And that budget is coming under pressure as the EU enlarges. The question is will Europeans be willing to pay more in order to keep subsidising farmers incomes? Agriculture spokesmen and women from EU candidate countries are meeting in Vienna at the moment on how to explain Agriculture and the EU's Common Agriculture Policy. Daniel Kapp is spokesman for Austria's Agriculture minister.

The world-renowned photographer Inge Morath was born in Graz - the capital of the Austrian province of Styria. She died at the end of January 2002, but before then journeyed through the borderland between southern Styria and Slovenia searching for clues to her family's origins. Her mother was born in an area that today lies in Slovenia. Out of Inge Morath's last journeys came an exhibition called "Border.Areas" Karen Engel when to the first showing of the exhibition and filed this report...

Poland is facing problems in creating a modern knowledge based economy. That is an economy in which wealth is created through production, distribution and use of knowledge. A preliminary report from the World Bank identifies some of the barriers and it lists - a monopoly in fixed-line telephones, loose ties between universities and firms, and flaws in the educational system. Rick Woodward is one of the authors of the report. He's an economist at the Centre for Social and Economic Research in Poland

Hundreds of abattoirs in Hungary have been given until the 1st of March to improve hygiene and animal welfare standards - or close. But the Hungarian government is stepping in to bail them out, with a credit line of 100 billion forints - that's almost 400 million Euros to help Hungarian businesses, including slaughterhouses, comply with the EU's food safety standards. Tibor Szanyi is state secretary in the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture. He says slaughterhouses-in need- can also get help from the EU' SAPARD program.

A look at an unusual tourist trade that's transforming an area of western Poland, and getting itself a name across the Atlantic too.

The Czechs are the world's number one beer drinkers, at least that's according to a report by the Czech Association of Breweries and Distilleries. The Czechs traditionally top world league tables on beer drinking, last year consuming on average, 162 beers per person - more beer per person than people in any other country in the world.

Hungary's new Finance Minster-to-be, Tibor Draskovics has been outlining his priorities this week. He takes office next month - replacing Csaba Laszlo, who was recently dismissed by Hungary's Prime Minister for allowing the budget deficit to spiral out of control. The new finance minister has worked as a banker, tax advisor and spent 16 years in the Finance Ministry - more recently as the head of the prime ministers cabinet. He's pledging to pursue stricter economic policies in a bid to keep Hungary on track to join the euro zone in 2008.

Women in many parts of the world can now choose different methods of child birth - from Hypno-birthing to water births - when some or all of labour is spent in a birthing pool filled with warm water. But In Slovakia such birthing methods are a novelty and many women head across the border to the Czech Republic and Austria to give birth. Now a couple of hospitals are offering alternative deliveries in Slovakia but acceptance is slow...

Poland and Slovakia are competing to attract investment in a new car factory by South Koreas KIA Motor Corporation. The factory will turn out 300 thousand cars annually from an investment of around 600 million US dollars. Three thousand jobs will be created. With so much at stake, and unemployment high in both countries - it's not surprising that Warsaw and Bratislava are both keen to attract the KIA plant. Well this week the government in Warsaw upped the stakes offering to incur certain costs if the factory came to Poland. Richard Mbewe is Chief