Poland has received $5.5 billion (€5 billion) in grants and loans as an advance payment from the REPowerEU program aimed at accelerating the transition to clean energy.
REPowerEU was launched in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to help member states reduce their dependency on Russian fossil fuels and increase the share of renewables in their energy mix. Poland applied for about $27.5 billion (€25 billion) as part of the program.
The country is also eligible for roughly $38.5 billion (€35 billion) in EU funds under its National Recovery Plan designed to boost investment and improve the resilience of the economy following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Payments for the National Recovery Plan, submitted by Warsaw in June 2022, have so far been delayed by the EU due to Poland’s violations of the rule of law and are contingent on the country reaching pre-agreed milestones. However, Friday’s tranche was not subject to Warsaw meeting any conditions.
According to estimates, the National Recovery Plan funds could increase Poland’s GDP by 0.5-1 percentage point and lead to the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs in innovative sectors.
Agnieszka Gajewska, Global Government & Public Sector Leader at PwC Poland, said in an interview with the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita that the funds are “crucial for the economy to continue growing” especially “if we take into account the record-low 17% investment rate.”
Poland’s new pro-EU government, which took office in mid-December, pledged to unblock the EU funds in 2024 and improve the country’s relations with Brussels, which were damaged by eight years of rule by the nationalist, Euroskeptic Law and Justice (PiS) party.
Donald Tusk, the new Polish prime minister and former president of the European Council, visited Brussels last month for talks on releasing the funds.
“I had to take the initiative before the final post-election settlements because it is necessary to use all methods, even non-standard ones, to save the money that Poland deserves,” Tusk said at a press conference after the meeting.
Warsaw and Brussels have been locked in a dispute over rule of law violations for years. To release the remaining EU funds, Poland will need to reach a series of milestones set by the European Commission, including introducing reforms to guarantee judicial independence, improving digitalization, and boosting the competitiveness of the economy.
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