diff --git a/Curry/FlatCurry/Goodies.hs b/Curry/FlatCurry/Goodies.hs
--- a/Curry/FlatCurry/Goodies.hs
+++ b/Curry/FlatCurry/Goodies.hs
@@ -348,7 +348,7 @@
 -- OpDecl --------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 --- transform operator declaration
-trOp :: (QName -> Fixity -> Integer -> a) -> OpDecl -> a
+trOp :: (QName -> Fixity -> Int -> a) -> OpDecl -> a
 trOp op (Op name fix prec) = op name fix prec
 
 -- Selectors
@@ -362,7 +362,7 @@
 opFixity = trOp (\_ fix _ -> fix)
 
 --- get precedence of operator declaration
-opPrecedence :: OpDecl -> Integer
+opPrecedence :: OpDecl -> Int
 opPrecedence = trOp (\_ _ prec -> prec)
 
 -- Update Operations
@@ -370,7 +370,7 @@
 --- update operator declaration
 updOp :: (QName -> QName) ->
          (Fixity -> Fixity) ->
-         (Integer -> Integer)       -> OpDecl -> OpDecl
+         (Int -> Int)       -> OpDecl -> OpDecl
 updOp fn ff fp = trOp op
  where
   op name fix prec = Op (fn name) (ff fix) (fp prec)
@@ -384,7 +384,7 @@
 updOpFixity f = updOp id f id
 
 --- update precedence of operator declaration
-updOpPrecedence :: Update OpDecl Integer
+updOpPrecedence :: Update OpDecl Int
 updOpPrecedence = updOp id id
 
 -- FuncDecl ------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/Curry/FlatCurry/Type.hs b/Curry/FlatCurry/Type.hs
--- a/Curry/FlatCurry/Type.hs
+++ b/Curry/FlatCurry/Type.hs
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@
 
 import Curry.Files.PathUtils (writeModule,maybeReadModule)
 
-import Data.List(intersperse)
+import Data.List (intersperse)
+import Data.Char (isSpace)
 import Control.Monad (liftM)
 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -116,7 +117,7 @@
 --- PAKCS definition using Haskell type 'Integer' instead of 'Int'
 --- for representing the precedence. 
 
-data OpDecl = Op QName Fixity Integer deriving (Read, Show, Eq)
+data OpDecl = Op QName Fixity Int deriving (Read, Show, Eq)
 
 --- Data types for the different choices for the fixity of an operator.
 
@@ -317,8 +318,17 @@
 
 -- Reads a Flat file and returns the corresponding term (type 'Prog') as
 -- a value of type 'Maybe'.
+-- Due to compatibility with PAKCS it is allowed to have a commentary
+-- at the beginning of the file enclose in {- ... -}.
 readFlat :: FilePath -> IO (Maybe Prog)
-readFlat = liftM (fmap read) . maybeReadModule
+readFlat = liftM (fmap (read . skipComment)) . maybeReadModule
+  where
+    skipComment s = case dropWhile isSpace s of
+       '{':'-':s' -> dropComment s'
+       s'        -> s'
+    dropComment ('-':'}':xs) = xs
+    dropComment (_:xs)       = dropComment xs
+    dropComment []           = []
 
 -- Writes a FlatCurry program term into a file.
 writeFlatCurry :: String -> Prog -> IO ()
diff --git a/curry-base.cabal b/curry-base.cabal
--- a/curry-base.cabal
+++ b/curry-base.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 Name:          curry-base
-Version:       0.2.4
+Version:       0.2.5
 Cabal-Version: >= 1.6
 Synopsis:      Functions for manipulating Curry programs
 Description:   This package serves as a foundation for Curry compilers. it defines the intermediate
@@ -18,8 +18,18 @@
 Library
   Build-Depends:    base >= 3 && < 4, mtl, old-time, directory, filepath, containers, pretty
   ghc-options:      
-  Exposed-Modules:  Curry.Base.Position, Curry.Base.Ident, Curry.Base.MessageMonad
-                    Curry.ExtendedFlat.Type, Curry.ExtendedFlat.Goodies, Curry.ExtendedFlat.TypeInference,
-                    Curry.ExtendedFlat.MonadicGoodies, Curry.ExtendedFlat.UnMutual, Curry.ExtendedFlat.LiftLetrec
-                    Curry.FlatCurry.Type, Curry.FlatCurry.Goodies, Curry.FlatCurry.Tools
-                    Curry.Files.Filenames, Curry.Files.PathUtils
+  Exposed-Modules:  
+    Curry.Base.Position
+    Curry.Base.Ident
+    Curry.Base.MessageMonad
+    Curry.ExtendedFlat.Type
+    Curry.ExtendedFlat.Goodies
+    Curry.ExtendedFlat.TypeInference
+    Curry.ExtendedFlat.MonadicGoodies
+    Curry.ExtendedFlat.UnMutual
+    Curry.ExtendedFlat.LiftLetrec
+    Curry.FlatCurry.Type
+    Curry.FlatCurry.Goodies
+    Curry.FlatCurry.Tools
+    Curry.Files.Filenames
+    Curry.Files.PathUtils