Morawiecki at Risk and Trends 2018: Central and Eastern Europe is discriminated by the Commission

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki was a special guest at a conference “Risk and Trends 2018” organized by Polityka Insight, under a patronage of BiznesAlert.pl. One of threads of his speech concerned the difference in treating Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe by the European Commission.

– It is clear from the surveys that Central and Eastern Europe is discriminated by the European Commission when it comes to treating the public aid – said the Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, citing the analysis of Polityka Insight. They show that 48 per cent of the European Commission’s penalties for abusing public aid falls on the region mentioned by him. – Something deep here is wrong. A part of the Commission responsible for competition is much more acute in assessing us, who are trying to support some enterprises gently from the bottom. Our partners from Western Europe are allowed to do more – he said.

In his opinion, shipbuilding is a good example. – The Dutch, somehow, could deal with this problem – he pointed out. As an example, he showed the nationalized Saint-Nazare shipyard, which did not raise the European Commission’s concerns. – It is worth remembering when attempts of repolonization appear in Poland along with very critical voices.

– In other words, we are treated differently than mature democracies. We need more free market on a single European market. We are dealing with veiled attempts at protectionism. Stronger countries do it easier – warned Morawiecki.