WARSAW—Poland asked the European Union on Thursday for more time to complete the sale of its shipyards, symbolic birthplace of the anti-communist Solidarity union, and said it would appeal to leaders directly if the EU executive ruled against it.
The European Commission has indicated it is leaning towards rejecting Poland's restructuring plans for the three shipyards over concerns they violate EU rules, a move which Poles fear would lead to the bankruptcy of the yards.
Facing a likely political backlash if the Gdansk, Gdynia and Szczecin shipyards are forced to hand back 1 billion euros ($1.57 billion) in state aid, the Polish government said it needed more time to finalise talks with investors.
"We have to negotiate privatisation agreements and we can't do that in a few days or hours," Treasury Minister Aleksander Grad told a news conference.
"If the Commission says 'no', the shipyards will go bankrupt. This does not mean the shipyards are sinking, they will be privatised one way or the other. But only private shipyards have a chance of survival," he said.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Poland would appeal to the European Council, the EU's highest political body made up of member countries' heads of state and government, if the Commission rejects Warsaw's plans.
He accused unnamed European officials of lacking good will to resolve the dispute.
Protests
The collapse of the shipyards, which employ 15,000, would be a political embarrassment for Tusk's centre-right government and could lead to massive protests by its workers. Tusk has blamed his predecessors for failing to resolve the lingering problem.
As many as 60,000 jobs could be lost in both the shipyards and related industries, a Polish Treasury spokesman said.
The Commission declined to comment on Thursday on the issue.
The European Commission is analysing restructuring plans for the shipyards to see if they allowed the companies to avoid repaying state aid deemed illegal under EU laws.
EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes told Grad this week she had doubts about Poland's proposals to address her concerns.
An estimated 2,000 shipyard workers protested in the northwestern city of Szczecin on Thursday. Television channel TVN24 showed workers carrying banners that read "We want to work, not starve" and "We won't abandon the shipyard".
Unions representing the workers promised further protests.
In Strasbourg, home of the European Parliament, a group of EU lawmakers wrote to Kroes asking her to give Poland more time.
"A possible shipyard's bankruptcy ... would undoubtedly result in a drop in trust in the European institutions and the Union as a whole among Polish citizens," 23 deputies from the parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee wrote.
"As the place where the Solidarnosc (Solidarity) freedom movement was born, Gdansk shipyard is a symbol of the fight against communism."
The letter—drafted by Dariusz Rosati, a centrist Polish lawmaker and former foreign minister—also noted the shipyards' bankruptcy would eliminate jobs in regions where unemployment is already high.
"Moreover, this would lead to a further decline in the share of EU shipbuilding in the global market and to a significant loss of the branch's know-how within the EU."
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