The European Commission unlocked almost EUR 137 billion for Poland on Thursday. This concerns both money from the National Reconstruction Plan and cohesion funds from the current EU budget. , today it was finally approved.
KPO for Poland. The European Commission has unlocked EUR 137 billion
The way to unblocking the money was paved by the judicial reform program prepared by Poland, which is intended to guarantee the independence of the judiciary. This is a package of planned laws regarding, among others, the National Council of the Judiciary, the Constitutional Tribunal and the Supreme Court.
On Thursday, the European Commission approved Warsaw’s first application for the payment of EUR 6.3 billion from the KPO. The money will flow to Poland at the turn of March and April. The Commission’s decision still needs to be accepted by EU countries, but this is only a formality. This money will be used, for example, to implement the “Clean Air” program, providing for subsidies, among other things, for the replacement of old furnaces, but also to finance the modernization of railways.
In total, Warsaw wants to receive EUR 23 billion this year. The entire KPO pool is almost EUR 60 billion, which includes non-repayable subsidies of over EUR 25 billion and EUR 34.5 billion of cheap loans. Poland must spend this money by 2026.
Poland has until the end of this decade to spend cohesion funds from the current EU budget, an amount of over EUR 76 billion. After the end of the current financial perspective, the money can be spent for another 3 years. Unlocking cohesion funds means that the Commission can start returning money to Poland for invoices for implemented investments.
The European Commission has unblocked the KPO for Poland
The entire pool of over EUR 136 billion has been blocked so far. The Commission accused Poland of failing to guarantee the independence of the judiciary. The justice system reform plan prepared by the new Polish government was intended to convince Brussels to change its position. Poland’s decision to join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, which assesses the correct spending of EU funds, was also important. The documents in this matter were signed by the Minister of Justice at the beginning of the year and sent to Brussels for notification of the decision by the European Commission.
Source: Gazeta
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