Shortly after Tusk became Prime Minister of the Platform, Ruch Hołownia, PSL and Left government, he declared at one of the press conferences that he was such a strong politician that he could not now be “outplayed” in Brussels.
Unfortunately, all indications are that he is regularly outplayed in Brussels when it comes to Polish issues, perhaps because he is either completely uninterested in them or because simply taking a photo with the most important EU politicians and patting them on the back is enough. it. Three months of Donald Tusk’s rule have already passed, and in such “hot” issues decided in Brussels, concerning transporters, farmers and recently also arms factories producing ammunition, he has been played like a child.
Authority on Financial Support for Ammunition Production
At the end of last week, the issue of EU financial support for arms factories producing ammunition so that they could expand their production potential was raised. From Poland, applications for these funds were submitted on December 13 by three companies: Dozamet, Mesko and Nitrochem, only the former received only 2.1 million euros, only 0.4% of the total amount distributed, which amounted to 500 million euros. The main beneficiary turned out to be Germany, whose factories in this country received as much as 121 million euros, and the German company Rheinmetall, which also has factories in Hungary and Spain, received another 22 million euros and 25 billion euros, respectively. Companies from France and Italy, and even a company from Norway, which is outside the EU. And yet the French commissioner responsible for this, Thierry Breton, was in Poland, he was also received by members of the current government. Moreover, Poland, as a frontline country, has provided military support to Ukraine that is extraordinary given its capabilities and needs. to rebuild its resources.
Unfortunately, it turns out that Tusk’s supposedly ‘strong’ position in Brussels did not help, nor did any substantive arguments, in this allocation of EU funds for the development of ammunition production capabilities we were treated absolutely negligently. In fact, after revealing this scandal, politicians from the ruling coalition started a story about the “inefficient Polish arms industry” (including Platform Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk), which could mean the need for a foreign investor. As former Minister of Defense MP Mariusz Błaszczak predicts, it may soon turn out that Polish companies that want to participate in the EU ammunition program will have to be taken over, for example by the German company Rheinmetall.
Organization concerning Polish farmers
Tusk has also failed in Brussels on the Polish farmers, although some changes have been made to the duty-free trade agreement between the EU and Ukraine, which are intended to protect the EU market more than before, but in fact this will the future won’t change much. situation in which Ukraine’s exports through the Black Sea are blocked and can in principle only be exported overland via frontline countries such as Poland. Import restrictions are likely to be introduced for poultry, sugar, eggs, honey and grains, among others, but the reference period for these products will be the years (2021-2023), including the last two, when Ukrainian exports, for example on the Polish market was several times greater than before the Russian aggression against Ukraine (that is, the impact on the destabilization of the market will be deducted from a much higher value of imports from Ukraine than before the war). Protective clauses for other agricultural products have also been introduced, but a particular Member State must demonstrate destabilization of the market with excessive imports of Ukrainian agricultural products, but the final decision on this will be taken at its discretion by the European Commission, whose The President has for some time decided to better protect the interests of Ukrainian exporters of agricultural products than those of farmers from Member States, especially those from frontline countries.
Authority on carriers
Similarly, in the case of transporters, there is no progress; the agreement between the EU and Ukraine is still in force, which liberalizes the access of Ukrainian transporters to the EU market, making them more competitive on the EU market as they do not have to meet many EU requirements. Polish transporters are demanding the restoration of commercial licenses for Ukrainian companies to transport goods (except for military and humanitarian aid), the suspension of licenses for Ukrainian companies established after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as their thorough inspection, and the suspension of the so-called electronic queue on the Ukrainian side. Even though the new Minister for Infrastructure has committed to addressing these issues by signing an agreement with carriers in January to suspend protests at the border, there has been no change to EU regulations so far and carriers have since returned to protests at the border. early March, together with farmers.
So when it came to settling the real interests of Polish farmers, transporters and arms factories in Brussels, it turned out that Prime Minister Tusk’s political position was not as strong as he thought. Indeed, he is warmly welcomed by President Ursula von der Leyen or Manfred Weber, who is patted on the back by Macron or Scholz, as recently at the Weimar Triangle meeting in Berlin, but when it comes down to it, he either doesn’t care about the Polish interests at all or is overshadowed.
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Source: wPolityce