Polish PM Calls for One, Free Europe at Economy Summit in Katowice

May 17, 2011 "We want a united, free and borderless Europe with faith in its own future," PM Tusk said yesterday at opening ceremony of the third European Economic Congress in the southern Polish city of Katowice. Competitiveness of EU's economy, European energy security and Hungary's and Poland's presidency of the EU were the main topics that political and business leaders from Central and Eastern Europe discussed during the first day of the three-day annual event. Polish PM Donald Tusk, Czech PM Petr Neczas, Hungarian PM Viktor Orban, Croatian PM Jadranka Kosor as well as European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek and EU Industry and Entrepreneurship Commissioner Antonio Tajani are among the participants of the congress. Poland, during its presidency of the EU, will be fighting for a uniform and a "really free" market in the EU, Tusk declared. The European Union should not let the financial crisis block the membership aspirations of Croatia and other candidate countries, Tusk added. "No proud nation which aspires to join the EU should be excluded because we're besieged by the financial crisis", he said and expressed his hope that Croatia would complete accession negotiations later this year, after Poland takes over the EU's presidency in July. The EP president Jerzy Buzek pointed to the need to build EU's competitiveness necessary in creation of jobs. "Jobs are absolutely most important for our citizens. That is why we should begin with the competitiveness which requires difficult structural reforms," he said. Source: The Warsaw Voice