“We are facing the green and digital transformation of our economies … and it’s very important that in this process we are not leaving countries and regions behind,” Dombrovskis said, speaking ahead of the celebrations of 20 years of Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia joining the EU.
Wealthier European countries attempting to compete with American and Chinese subsidies risk tearing apart the single market’s level playing field, he added.
“Not all countries have equal possibilities. Countries in the south and countries in the east will not be able to subsidize their companies as massively as Germany or France,” Dombrovskis said.
He added that the EU should look at Union-wide funding instruments to protect that level playing field. “From my point of view, the more flexibility there is on state aid, the more flexibility there needs to be for redistributions through the EU budget,” Dombrovskis said.
Speaking about the geopolitical impact of EU expansion, the Latvian commissioner said it had “made the EU a stronger, bigger global player. And it firmly placed the new member states within the Western democratic world.”
Dombrovskis said enlargement was possible in the case of the Baltic countries in 2004 because it happened during a short period when Russia was less authoritarian.