Even though Switzerland is not part of the European Union, it supports the development of several EU countries (including Poland) with a special pool of funds. The signing of the agreement for the second edition of the Swiss-Polish Cooperation Programme was preceded by agreements between Switzerland and the EU. In June 2022, Switzerland and the EU signed the Memorandum of Understanding that, among other things, set forth the value of support for several countries, the purpose of funds and their beneficiaries.

‘It is another program we will be able to use for investments supporting Poland’s economic and social growth. I believe that the activities of the Polish government in partnership with Switzerland will contribute to further development and increased competitiveness of Poland’s economy’,

Minister of Development Funds and Regional Policy Grzegorz Puda said at the signing ceremony.

The MFiRP Minister stressed that he welcomed the good cooperation with Swiss partners. He said that it was particularly important now, in the face of social and economic changes resulting from the pandemic and Russian aggression in Ukraine.

‘I believe that the second edition of the Swiss-Polish Cooperation Program will further strengthen the already excellent relations between our countries, improve the quality of life of Poland’s population and contribute to the reduction of social and economic disparities between individual regions of Poland’,

Helene Budliger Artieda, Secretary of State for Economy of Switzerland, stressed.

Minister Puda informed that, in order to equalise development opportunities between regions, support will be provided to medium-sized towns which are losing socio-economic functions.

‘Support will also be provided to innovations and scientific research so necessary for the growth of the Polish economy. It will allow our economy to move to a higher level of competitiveness and resilience to crises’,

the Minister said.

This is the second edition of the support for Poland's development from the Swiss funds. The first one was implemented in 2007-2017.

Another edition of the program

The implementation of two main programs is planned during the second edition of the Swiss-Polish Cooperation Program:

the Polish-Swiss Urban Development Program offering 278.7 million Swiss francs (and the additional CHF 49.882 million of the national contribution);

Scientific Research and Innovations Program with 35 million Swiss francs (CHF 29 million for applied research and CHF 6 million for basic research, as well as additional CHF 6.176 million of the national contribution).

The agreement also provides for Technical Support (including the Preparation Fund) worth 6.4 million Swiss francs.

The Ministry will act as the National Co-ordinating Body, i.e. will oversee the implementation of the programme and the attainment of its objectives.

The implementation (cost qualification) of the first edition of the Swiss-Polish Cooperation Program will end in December 2029.

Representatives of Poland and Switzerland are currently working together on the details of the programs to be implemented in Poland.

The next step will be to sign agreements covering individual programs. A detailed scope of support will be announced then and a call for applications will be launched.

Support for cities under the Polish-Swiss Urban Development Program

More than a dozen medium-sized towns that are losing their socio-economic functions will receive support.  Towns to be supported will be selected in an open recruitment. The Ministry will be the operator of the program.

Examples of areas to be supported under the program:

• energy efficiency,
• public transport,
• water and sewage management,
• waste management,
• environmental protection,
• health protection,
• vocational training,
• safety,
• migration and social integration,
• civil society strengthening.

Support for scientific research and innovations under the Swiss-Polish Cooperation Program

Support for the area of scientific research and innovations is the joint decision of the Polish and Swiss representatives.

The decision resulted from the positive experience we had during the first edition of the program. We have successfully completed 31 partner research projects then. We recognised that we had a lot of potential for further cooperation in this area’,

Minister Grzegorz Puda said.

The program will consist of two parts:

• basic research with the Swiss National Scient Foundation as the operator,
• applied research with the Polish National Research and Development Centre as its operator.

in the applied research part of the research programme, projects are to be bilateral, i.e. carried out by partnerships of institutions and companies from Poland and Switzerland, while in the basic research part provides for multilateral projects (also involving other EU countries).

How we used funds from the first edition of the program

The first edition of the Swiss-Polish Cooperation Programme covered years 2007-2017. Poland received 489 million Swiss francs (i.e. nearly one half of the funds from the pool of CHF 1 billion available to all the participating countries). The money was awarded pursuant to the agreement of 20 December 2007 executed in Brno between the government of Switzerland and the government of the Republic of Poland.

The programme ended on 14 June 2017, 10 years after the Swiss parliament’s decision to award the funds to Poland.

From the first edition of the Swiss funds, we co-financed 58 major projects and more than 1,700 smaller ones relating to environmental protection, energy innovation and SME activities, improvement of transport infrastructure and preventive healthcare among others. Support was provided to public and private entities and to non-governmental organisations.

Five areas received funding:

• regional development and border protection,
• environment and infrastructure,
• private sector,
• science, health and social care,
• civil society and partnership cooperation.

More than 43 percent of financial funds offered under the programme were assigned to four less developed voivodeships in south-eastern Poland:

• Lubelskie,
• Małopolskie,
• Podkarpackie,
• Świętokrzyskie.

Many projects were implemented by partnerships of Polish and Swiss entities (e.g. scientific units or institutions).

Examples of completed investments and projects:

• removal of carcinogenic asbestos from the roofs of houses in Małopolskie and Lubelskie,
• the construction of one of the most modern biomass-fired combined heat and power plants in Lębork,
• installation of solar systems in private buildings,
• the addition of rolling stock for regional trains on the Malbork-Grudziądz route and for the Warszawska Kolej Dojazdowa (Warsaw Commuter Railway),
• modernisation of the railway infrastructure on the WKD line,
• installation of defibrillators in trains on routes of the Pomorskie voivodeship,
• construction of a railway station in Legionowo (with facilities for the elderly and for people with disabilities) with a bus platform and two Park&Ride car parks,
• improvement of the road infrastructure in poviats of the Lubuskie, Podlaskie and Mazowieckie voivodeships,
• research by Polish and Swiss scientists into nanomaterials for bioenergetics and the use of information technology in astrophysics; this cooperation has resulted in more than 20 patent applications, training and internships among other things,
• co-financing national prevention programmes aimed at improving oral health, preventing overweight and obesity and chronic diseases; preventing HCV infections and counteracting addiction to alcohol, tobacco and psychoactive substances; prevention activities covered more than 1.6 million people.