EU competition chief defends commission over Polish shipyard plans

Neelie Kroes has told Polish union representatives that the commission is not to blame for delays in reaching a decision on restructuring the country’s shipyards.

While welcoming long-awaited plans from the Polish government on the future of the Gdansk, Gdynia and Szczecin shipyards, she said it was too early to tell what the commission’s decision would be.

The plans, received on Friday, will now be examined by competition experts to see if they comply with EU rules on state aid. Since 2005, the commission has been investigating subsidies doled out to the shipyards by the Polish government, and last July extended a deadline to submit a “viable” solution until last Friday.

Speaking to representatives of the historic labour union Solidarity, who staged a demonstration in Brussels during the meeting with Kroes, she said, “In this case it’s very important that [the plans] are clear and transparent and in keeping with the rules and regulations regarding state aid.

“In this case I’m not consistent with our time schedule. For nearly four years we have been dealing with this case and it deserves a quick solution.

"It is quite clear that we in Brussels can't be blamed for taking this long."

There are fears that Poland’s three main shipyards will be forced to close if the commission rules that they must repay the aid, causing thousands of job losses in an industry that is still central to the Polish economy.

In 2004 the commission ordered the repayment of 100 per cent of aid (plus interest) granted to Spanish shipyards by the state holding company Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales (SEPI).

And in July, the EU ordered the Greek government to recover over €230m in “illegal aid” it had given to Hellenic Shipyards SA directly and via the then state-owned bank ETVA.

The commission is insisting that Poland include in the restructuring plans provisions to ensure the long-term profitability of the shipyards, including measures to limit the distortion of competition caused by the state aid and increased finance from the companies that own the yards.

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