Dr. Georg Weiss, Austrian ambassador to Poland, talks to Krzysztof Pawlik.

Could you tell our readers something more about your diplomatic background? Is this your first posting in Poland ?

It is my first posting in Poland and-except for visits as a tourist-it is also the first time I am here professionally. Before coming here, I spent the last four years at the Austrian Ministry for Foreign Affairs as head of the department for asylum, migration and humanitarian affairs. Before that, from 1992-97, I served as Austrian ambassador to the Ukraine. To move even further back a couple of years, I was also in Ljubljana-today the capital of the Independent Republic of Slovenia, and at that time a member state of the Yugoslav Federation-where I worked from 1981-85 as consul general. From 1968-75, I served at the Austrian Consulate in New York.

If you were asked to evaluate Austria's EU membership, what would be the biggest advantage that followed your accession and in what ways did your country benefit from joining the EU?

The most important advantage of our membership in the EU is that we can decide with all the other members of the Union on the development as well as the policy of the Union. Before that, because of our close relationship with the EU, we were more or less forced to introduce some new regulations in Austria, which had been agreed upon in Brussels, without having any chance to take part in decision making.
Of course, we must not forget the noticeable growth of our economy-a 0.5-percent additional growth each year-as well as our exports, which have also risen significantly since we joined the EU.

What should also be mentioned here in terms of the clear advantages of the Union is that we were forced to modernize our society and economy at an accelerated pace. When I talk about transforming our society in order to adjust to the challenges of EU membership, I mean everything from our universities, to ways of financing various public tasks, to issues such as how long shops are open. Obviously, responding to increased competition in a larger market forced us to simplify many of our old procedures and habits; for example, simpler and less time-consuming procedures have been introduced for starting a business in Austria. You don't have to provide as many papers and documents as you used to and it takes less time to gain the necessary permits.

Now that you have been a member of the EU for some time, can you give some advice to Poland?

I have always perceived Poles as a very valiant people who do not fear adversity or new challenges. But for some time now, I have had the feeling that there are some signs of fear in the Polish population of what enlargement might bring. I can tell you that there was also some fear in Austria when we were at that stage. I remember when I assisted at a gathering prior to our accession, during which one of the speakers-German Chancellor Helmut Kohl-grasped the situation exactly. He spoke out loud and said, "Do not fear," like the Angel who addressed the shepherds on Christmas Eve. So the most valuable advice I can give you in your current situation is, of course, that one should not be fearful when new things are coming.