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The Czech Republic's chief negotiator on accession to the European Union, Pavel Telicka, has expressed satisfaction with an offer of increased finances to applicant countries put forward by Denmark, which currently holds the EU presidency. Mr Telicka described the offer as positive, but said the Czech Republic would still continue to fight for better accession terms between now and the mid-December Copenhagen EU summit. Germany and some other EU countries are opposed to the Danish proposals, which are aimed at appeasing farmers in candidate states. The Czech Republic is one of ten countries hoping to join the Union in 2004.

The Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla visited Brussels on Monday to lobby for Czech interests. Mr Spidla first met his Belgian counterpart Guy Verhofstadt, then held talks with EU Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen, followed by a discussion with EU Commission President, Romano Prodi. With the EU commencing the debate on the precise financial conditions for admitting new countries, Mr Spidla's visit was the last chance to influence EU decisions on financing expansion at the highest political level. Speaking to journalists after his meeting with Mr Spidla, Mr Prodi said he was confident that the EU and the candidate countries would reach the necessary compromises before the EU summit in Copenhagen in December.

The Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla will be in Brussels on Monday to lobby for Czech interests, just as the European Union begins debating the precise financial conditions that will apply after the next wave of applicants is admitted. At a series of meetings with EU and Belgian officials, including EU Commission President, Romano Prodi, Mr Spidla will be putting forward such Czech concerns as subsidies for the country's farmers and quotas for milk and beef exports. The Czech Republic's chief negotiator with the EU, Pavel Telicka, said that the visit was extremely well timed, as it would be the Czech Republic's last top-level opportunity to influence EU decisions on its finances after expansion. The country is widely expected to join the union in 2004.

European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels are reported to have decided on May 1st, 2004 as the date for the EU's enlargement to the east. Unnamed diplomats told the Reuters news agency that the Czech Republic and the nine other leading candidates for membership would probably join the EU one year after the signing of the EU accession treaty, expected in April 2003. The diplomats said the EU believed it would take the 15 member countries 12 months to ratify the treaty.

The European Union is poised to agree on Monday that the biggest enlargement in the bloc's history will take place on May 1st, 2004. The 15 EU foreign ministers will meet their counterparts from the 10 leading candidate countries to review the state of accession talks less than a month before negotiations are due to conclude at the EU's Copenhagen summit. The candidate countries drafted a common demand regarding entry terms on Friday, stressing that EU accession should not leave them worse off than they are now.

Ten countries poised for EU membership have set out a common demand for entry terms which would not leave them worse off when they join the union in 2004. The EU candidates fear that the slow phase-in of aid proposed in Brussels' 40 billion euro enlargement budget combined with tough competition on EU markets could result in serious economic problems, leaving them worse off than prior to their admission to the EU. The common demand, drafted at a meeting in Warsaw, comes ahead of a final agreement on farm aid and infrastructure funding which is to be reached at the EU's Copenhagen summit in December.

A new opinion poll released by the CVVM agency shows public support for EU membership at 47 percent, up from 40 percent three months ago and the highest figure ever recorded by the agency. Eighteen percent said they would vote against joining the EU, while 23 percent said they would take part in a referendum but hadn't made up their minds which way to vote. The average in other EU candidate countries is 65 percent in favour, 19 percent against.

The Senate has approved a nation-wide EU referendum for next spring, giving Czech voters the opportunity to decide whether their country should join the European Union. All 67 senators present in the 81-seat upper house approved the bill, which must now be signed by President Vaclav Havel. The referendum would be held in June, and approval would pave the way for EU entry in 2004. The Czech Republic is one of 10 countries that hopes to close enlargement negotiations with Brussels next month, and receive a formal invitation to join the Union at December's Copenhagen summit.

The Czech Republic has won support from Sweden in its debate with the European Union over post-enlargement farm supports. A spokesman for the Czech Minister of Agriculture said his counterpart in Stockholm agreed with Prague's positions on milk quotas, wine-vineyard hectarage, cattle production and other points in ongoing talks with Brussels. Agriculture is one of four areas still being discussed as part of the Czech Republic's negotiations for joining the EU. So far the Czech government has rejected the EU's offer for a gradual introduction of farm subsidies for new member states.

The Czech Republic has acknowledged that its possible accession to the European Union, together with that of nine other candidate countries, could slip back by several months; the announcement coming in response to a statement made in Brussels on Tuesday, in which Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen said that a small delay from the January 1, 2004 date would give parliaments in the 15 current member states more time to study and ratify the accession treaty. Responding to the comment Czech Deputy Foreign Minister and chief EU negotiator Pavel Telicka told reporters on Wednesday that the Czech Republic would continue to seek the earliest date possible, adding that an eventual delay should not create new obstacles. The Czech Republic is one of the 10 mostly ex-Communist countries from central and eastern Europe hoping to finish membership talks by the end of the year, to join the EU as early as January 1, 2004.