EU approves record €9.4bn in funds for Poland

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

The European Commission has approved payments amounting to €9.4 billion (40.8 billion zloty) for Poland, the largest tranche of money the country has ever received from Brussels.

The money – which comes from funds frozen under the former Law and Justice (PiS) government due to concerns over the rule of law – will be used in particular to support Poland’s green energy transition, as well as to bolster transport infrastructure and improve healthcare.

In April this year, four months after a new government led by former European Council President Donald Tusk had taken power, the commission paid out the first tranche of over €6 billion from the post-pandemic recovery fund, which was at the time a record amount.

On Tuesday, the commission confirmed that it had approved two further requests for payments from Poland, which it says has “achieved the milestones and targets required” to receive the funds, which are made up of both grants and loans.

Poland’s minister for funds and regional policy, Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, added on Tuesday that the newly approved payouts are expected to arrive by the end of the year. She described them as a present “under the Christmas tree”.

Pełczyńska-Nałęcz noted that the largest chunk of the funds, 10 billion zloty, would go towards developing Poland’s first offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea. Another 3 billion zloty is for modernising insulation and heating in homes, as part of efforts to reduce Poland’s air pollution, which is among the worst in Europe.

A further 7.4 billion will go towards improving rail infrastructure and purchasing new rolling stock, along with 2.1 billion zloty for buses. Cancer treatment and elderly care will will receive 4.7 million zloty and 1.5 billion zloty will go towards developing high-speed internet.

Poland filed the payment requests in September. The European Commission has had two months to prepare its assessment, which will now be submitted to the EU member states for their opinion, which will take about one month. On this basis, the European Commission will issue a final decision on payments.

Poland plans to submit its applications for its fourth and fifth payouts from the recovery fund in late 2024, which could unlock up to €7 billion (31.5 billion zloty).

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Farah Almazouni/Unsplash