Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-10-21-Speech-2-448"
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"en.20081021.43.2-448"2
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"Madam President, Commissioner, solidarity involves working together, and never working against each other. The problem of the Polish shipyards poses a fundamental question – do we serve the economy or does the economy serve us? In the case of banks, whose greed and incompetent management precipitated the financial crisis, the finger was pointed at people, or rather, at bankers. Thus, the world is using taxpayers’ money to rescue the financial system, even though pure economics would require judgment to be passed on the guilty parties and the banks to collapse. Unfortunately, a different philosophy is being applied to the case of the Polish shipyards. Is a banker a better person than a shipyard worker?
Polish shipyards symbolise the changes which led to the fall of the Berlin wall and the creation of a new Europe. Banks have made no such contribution to our history. However, it is the banks that we are helping, while we delay the decision regarding the matter of the shipyards. The difficult situation facing Polish shipyards is not the fault of the workers, neither is it due to a lack of skill in building ships. Bad management, political games and murky financial interests linked to the collapse of the shipyards are to blame.
While many shipyards in the old Member States of the European Union received state aid, the Gdańsk shipyard, a symbol of the struggle for freedom and human rights, was being destroyed for political reasons. The financial ruin of the Polish shipyards is of interest to those who expect large profits from taking over their assets and the attractive land on which the shipyards stand. The collapse of the shipyards will clearly also benefit competitors, including those from outside Europe. It is worth stressing that the entire European Union’s share of the global shipbuilding industry is three times smaller than that of South Korea alone, which subsidises its shipbuilding industry.
Ladies and gentlemen, it turns out that a significant proportion of state aid earmarked for the shipyards was not used for this purpose. This matter should be thoroughly investigated. Commissioner Kroes, creating development opportunties for Polish shipyards will not only secure the livelihoods of thousands of Polish shipyard workers and their families, as well as those employed in related industries. It is also an opportunity to develop a modern Polish economy, and is in the long-term interest of the European Union, which should support its shipbuilding industry. Thus, hitting the Polish shipyards is at odds with the Lisbon Strategy."@en1
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