Reporting back to the Parliament on 4 September 2007, Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy told the assembly that the Commission did not seek to close down the Gdansk shipyard, where the historic Solidarity trade union movement began.
"Gdansk shipyard deserves a viable future," McCreevy said, speaking on behalf of Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes. He stated that viable restructuring was necessary to limit the distortion of competition through state intervention and ensure equal treatment of Gdansk compared with other European shipyards. McCreevy went on to argue that a proper restructuring had been postponed for many years, but that the money had not been used to create viable jobs
MEPs across the political spectrum seized the occasion to express their empathy with the workers and underlined the historical importance of Gdansk. Most MEPs urged the Commission to reconsider its position and to take into account the serious number of job losses that would result from a closing or down-scaling of production.
