Application for KPO “almost ready”. Minister: One unfulfilled milestone remains

– unofficially established the Brussels correspondent of Polish Radio Beata Płomecka. The document signed by the Minister of Development Funds and Regional Policy Grzegorz Puda and the Commissioner for Economic Affairs Paolo Gentiloni is important for submitting the first application for the payment of funds from Poland.

The European Commission signed the operational arrangements. Grzegorz Puda: It’s a moderate success

Signing the operational arrangements “opens the formal possibility for us to submit a payment application to the EC. Negotiating the provisions of this document with the EC took only 3 months, much shorter than in the case of other Member States” – explained Grzegorz Puda on Twitter.

The Minister of Funds and Regional Policy said in an interview with that the signed documents “define how the European Commission will verify the indicators that Poland must meet”. He added that the government can now focus on “entering each one into the system and submitting a payment application”. ‘The most important element in accelerating work on individual milestones is, of course, meeting them,’ he said.

More information from Poland

He described the signing of the operational arrangements as a “moderate success”. – We hope that the EC will cooperate with us in these important areas, which are milestones. This is not a great breakthrough in the negotiations. This is good news, because we know that the Commission looks at us favorably and accepts our proposed provisions – indicated Grzegorz Puda.

Poland will get the first transfer from the EC? It is about 4.2 billion euros. Money is blocked by one milestone

However, in an interview with the website, the Minister of Funds and Regional Policy announced that the first KPO payment application for Poland is practically ready. – The payment from the European Commission under this application is EUR 2,851 million from the grant part and EUR 1,369 million from the loan part of the KPO (approx. EUR 4.2 billion in total). In order for the application to be considered complete, 37 measures must be met, he said.

Puda explained that out of 37 so-called milestones covered by the first application for payment, the milestone concerning the Wind Farm Act remains unrealized. On the other hand, as regards the reform of the judiciary, “discussions are underway with the EC whether and to what extent it is necessary to further amend the law on the Supreme Court”.

KPO for Poland is over EUR 35 billion

Poland’s National Reconstruction Plan was approved in mid-June, but disbursements have not yet started. The issue of the judiciary is one of the conditions that PiS must meet for the EC to turn the tap on.

Poland is to receive a total of over EUR 35 billion from the EU Reconstruction Fund, of which almost EUR 24 billion are non-repayable subsidies, and the rest are low-interest loans. KPO is a comprehensive investment plan for the modernization of the country. It contains 49 reforms, 53 investments and 283 milestones and targets. Poland wants to spend 43 percent on climate and green transformation, which is more than the required minimum, and 21 percent on digitization.