Poland in the EU

Ministers were invited to exchange views on the best way to ensure the right balance between:

• immediate crisis-response measures and long-term cohesion objectives
• flexibility at national level and targeted support to the least developed regions and most impacted sectors

In view of the crisis, member states considered the possibility of increasing the flexibility of transfers between the structural and investment funds. The aim would be to enhance preparedness for emergencies and to further promote job creation in small and medium-sized enterprises. 

Some member states expressed the view that further reflection was needed on the possibility of including rapid response measures, which could be triggered in exceptional and unusual circumstances, in the framework of cohesion policy. 

Finally, ministers agreed to work towards reinforcing cohesion policy tools in order to help societies manage the current situation and lay the basis for a swift and sustainable recovery of their economies. 

Poland was represented by Minister of Funds and Regional Development Małgorzata Jarosińska-Jedynak.