The debate over economic patriotism

With an eye to the EU summit, Brussels correspondent Anna Slojewska criticises the contradictions in the policies of the Polish government. She points out that on the one hand Warsaw demands freedom of movement for Polish workers, but on the other it uses protectionist measures and is blocking the merger of the Polish subsidiaries of the Italian company UniCredit with the German HypoVereinsbank, drawing complaints from the European Commission. "We are prepared to fight for the opening of labour markets and the relaxation of the services directive in the 'old' EU because we see this as providing better opportunities for our companies. However, we're not prepared to renounce our right to intervene when it comes to foreign banks establishing themselves in the Polish market... The fact that this puts us in the company of notoriously protectionist states like France and Spain doesn't help."

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