Commission has given the green light to Poland’s next €6.2 billion payment under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility. Money will be chanelled to various projects covering the areas of clean energy, transport, education, and digital growth.
Following its assessment of the payment request, the Commission on Wednesday, 29 October found that Poland has satisfactorily completed the 30 milestones and 14 targets set out in the Council Implementing Decision. According to the Commission’s press release, reforms and investments tied to this payment request should drive positive change for citizens and businesses in Poland.
Modernized heating, infrastructure upgrades…
Funds from the NextGeneration EU program for Poland are earmarked primarily for the areas of energy, transport, education, and the digital economy. The money should help modernizing heating systems in single-family and multi-unit residential buildings to reduce emissions and energy costs. Fostering hydrogen innovations by creating supportive conditions for technology development is another example.
The money is also intended to facilitate renewable energy grid integration through a legal framework enabling cable pooling for efficient network management. Wind energy investments that have seen a significant boom over the past years in Poland will be supported, too.
In the field of transport, support focuses on road infrastructure upgrades in order to enhance safety and reduce the risk of accidents. Regarding road safety statistics, Poland ranks among the worst countries in the EU. The funds will also help to introduce mandatory low-emission zones in highly polluted cities.
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Sixty billion euro in total
Poland, whose economic performance is still below the EU average, is one of the biggest recipients of EU funds. Poland’s recovery and resilience plan includes a wide range of investment and reform measures. The plan in total will be financed by €59.8bn, of which €34.5bn is in loans and €25.3bn in grants.
With the Commission’s latest positive assessment, this payment request will bring the funds paid out to Poland under the Recovery and Resilience Facility to €26.9bn. This includes €5.1bn pre-financing under REPowerEU received in December 2023. This corresponds to 45 per cent of all the funds in the Polish plan, with 38 per cent of all the milestones and targets in the plan fulfilled.
