It's You Only Live Twice for Polish Shipyards

José Manuel Barroso is thinking about re-election, and the Commission chief is elected by member state governments. So if this Commission has no mercy for Polish shipyards, Mr Tusk's cabinet doesn't have to have understanding for its president's personal ambitions.

One can hardly resist a bitter feeling. One day the European Commission is willing to bend the rules to authorise tens of billions of euros for intervention in the banking sector, claiming this is not 'unlawful public aid', but a 'market operation'. On the next day the same competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes of the Netherlands, announces that there will be no leniency towards Polish shipyards. They have to give back the public aid they've received, even though in their case it was a much smaller figure and distributed over a number of years.

Unfortunately, the Commission is acting legitimately. The brutal truth is that when a powerful bank connected with half the European economy is shaken to the foundations, one Sunday afternoon is enough to give green light for a help package. When at issue are shipyards somewhere in Europe's peripheries, the EU laws can be applied to the letter. The decision when the rules should be bent and when not is utterly discretional.
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