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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.
Poland has been allocated a further €925 million (4 billion zloty) in funds from the EEA and Norway Grants, money given by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to 15 eastern and southern countries in the European Economic Area (EEA) to reduce social and economic disparities.
The agreement, which runs until 2028, is the first that EEA and Norway Grants have signed with recipient countries under a new round of funding. It also means that Poland remains the largest beneficiary of the grants, receiving around a quarter of all money being distributed.
Today, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway signed Memoranda of Understanding with Poland on the new period of the EEA and Norway Grants, with a total of €924.9 million allocated to supporting social and economic development and strengthening bilateral relations.
eeagrants.org/news/renewed…— EEA and Norway Grants (@eeanorwaygrants.bsky.social) 23 April 2025 at 19:08
The funds are intended to be used primarily for supporting the green transition, democracy, the rule of law, human rights, social inclusion and resilience.
Among the more specific goals outlined in the announcement are “improving energy efficiency and a reduction in Poland’s CO2 emissions”, “strengthened judicial cooperation”, and “increasing participation, sustainability and diversity in arts”.
“We are proud to continue our close cooperation with Poland,” said Norway’s foreign minister, Espen Barth Eide. “This new funding period will allow us to work together to strengthen green innovation, social cohesion, and democratic values – key pillars for a resilient and forward-looking Europe.”
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Poland’s minister for funds and regional policy, Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, welcomed the fact that her country is the first to sign a memorandum of understanding for the new funding period and will receive a quarter of the total money available.
“[These are] huge funds for the development of Poland, the development of local communities, Polish democracy, local government organisations and Polish culture,” she said. “We have a very ambitious goal to launch the first programs at the beginning of next year – much sooner than is formally required.”
The minister noted that, thanks to the previous round of funding, which ran until the end of 2024, “almost 100 schools were insulated, several dozen patents were signed, [and] very important cultural sites, including the castle in Malbork, were renovated”.
Ruszył kolejny (czwarty) program funduszy Norwegii, Islandii i Liechtensteinu dla Polski.
Zależało nam bardzo na szybkim uruchomieniu inwestycji – i udało się! Polska podpisała umowę jako pierwsza w 🇪🇺.Do 2031 r. otrzymamy 4 mld zł. To wyraz europejskiej solidarności państw,… pic.twitter.com/fqEW4w5KLD
— Katarzyna Pełczyńska (@Kpelczynska) April 23, 2025
Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon, who attended the signing ceremony in Warsaw, hailed the fact that “ties between our countries have never been so strong”, reports the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
Pointing to Russia’s ongoing aggression in neighbouring Ukraine, he noted that “hostile forces are trying to weaken democracy and undermine our fundamental values. In response, we must deepen our joint efforts to strengthen European relations and protect the principles of democracy”.
Under Poland’s previous national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government, EEA and Norway Grants withdrew some of its funding for Poland due to anti-LGBT+ policies pursued by PiS-controlled local authorities.
PiS was replaced in office by a more liberal, pro-EU ruling coalition, led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, in December 2023. That led the European Commission to unlock billions of euros in funding (separate from the EEA and Norway Grants) that had been frozen under PiS due to rule-of-law concerns.
A Polish region has lost millions of zloty from EEA and Norway Grants due to passing a resolution declaring itself opposed to "LGBT ideology" https://t.co/XZMKh5kCQf
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) February 3, 2021
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: MKiDN (under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
