Poland asks EU for deadline extension

Poland has asked the European Commission for several months leeway to work on the privatisation of its shipyards. In early May, the EU executive threatened to demand the return of Polish government aid worth at least 1.3 billion euro to the Gdynia and Szczecin shipyards.

Government officials claim that interest in the yards is several times greater than last year and that ten expressions of preliminary interest and one very substantive offer have been received.

Poland has struggled to find a formula to prop up the yards, which were at the heart of the Solidarity movement that overturned communism in Poland, since its accession to the EU put stiffer limits on the public aid it could award.