Tax issues fuel tensions between old and new EU states

However, an opposite sentiment is growing, fuelled by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's remarks about the "unfair competition" from the accessing country's lower tax rates. "It is a debate to be vigorously pursued," said Laurens Jan Brinkhorst, the Dutch minister for economic affairs, who added, "No country can hide behind national borders." Leszek Balcerowicz, president of the National Bank of Poland, argued the country should worry less about its neighbors' reactions. "If we can stop the populists at home, then there is no need to worry about what is said abroad," he stated.Exclusive to Poland A.M. by Alex Nowacki, our correspondent at European Economic Summit