BRUSSELS. Sept 8: French objections to imports of Polish and Hungarian meat into the European Community (EC) were holding up an agreement to extend EC links with Eastern Europe diplomats said here yesterday, reports AFP.

They were speaking during a meeting of EC Foreign Ministers, the agenda was headed by a proposal from the EC's Executive Commission to accelerate negotiations towards giving Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia associate membership of the Community.

A French government spokesman said France was not prepared to accept the Commission's proposal to lower import tarins on Eastern European beef and shipment by 50 per cent over the next five years.

He cited discontent among

French farmers because of poor meat prices.

France offered a counter proposition to help Eastern European farmers export their surplus meat that the Soviet Union should be obliged to use food credits granted by the EC to buy from the three Eastern European countries.

A British diplomat said such triangular trade was useful but was no substitute for opening up EC markets to Eastern Europe.

He said the EC was not helping stability In Eastern Europe by urging the region to apply free market principles then closing off the lucrative Western European Market to it

One Dutch diplomat frustrated at the lack of progress at the meeting, said we ll al) have to bleed a bit," this was a reference to trade conces-

sions.

The Ministers were considering a proposal from the European Commission which also urged that all barriers to textile imports from the three Eastern European countries be phased out over five years.

It also proposed an end to restrictions of coal imports within four years, various forms of financial aid to the three countries and an institutionalised political dialogue with them.

The Association agreement is considered a halfway step towards full membership of the EC which many community members consider is at least a decade away.

The negotiations have dragged on for over a year, mainly because of the reluctance of some EC governments to anger thetr agricultural and industrial lobbies by relaxing controls of imports In politically sensitive sectors.

These sectors are agriculture. textile, iron ana steel happen to be those where the three Eastern European countries most need export outlets.

Diplomats said there had also been some opposition particularly from Portugal, to relaxing textile Imports.

But they said this was not regarded as a major problem on the scale of meat imports.

The Ministers were also discussing the possibility of expanding such association accords to Romania and Bulgaria and to include Albania In Western aid projects as a step towards closer links with the BC

During the meeting, the ministers broke for lunch with the Foreign Ministers of

Lithuania. Estonia and Latvia.

They promised the three Baltic states trade and economic agreements plus political support but defected thetr requests for associate membership of the EC similar to those on offer to Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary.

Reuter adds from Warsaw: The Polish government said on Saturday it was disappointed by the refusal of European Community Foreign Ministers to grant new trade concessions to Eastern European countries.

France on Friday blocked trade concessions to Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. Ignoring EC pledges of support to East Europe made only two weeks ago as the Soviet coup raged.

The concessions would have given the three countries bet-

produce. steel and textiles and speed up their association with the 12-nation Community.

The Polish government is disappointed by the decision, especially that the EC has recently announced a quick end to the negotiations.' government spokesman Andrzej Zarebski said.

Polands Chief Trade Negotiator Andrzej Olechowski said on Wednesday he hoped negotiations with the EC would end by October 15 and the association accord could be rati fled tn time to take effect on January 1.

The negotiations to give the three countries preferential political and trade status have become bogged down over the reluctance of some EC states to open their markets to Im Cris and incur the smith of al producers.