On 30 June 2022, the Polish government officially completed negotiations on a Partnership Agreement with the European Commission. MFiPR was the leading department participating in the discussion with the EC in order to work out the Agreement.

‘These were difficult negotiations that took many months but we have completed them with great success. Poland is the largest beneficiary of the cohesion policy for the years 2021-2027; we will receive more than 76 billion euros for that purpose’,

Minister of Development Funds and Regional Policy Grzegorz Puda said.

The Minister stressed that the resources available under the cohesion policy were distributed to national and regional programmes. They will also be spent to equalise development opportunities in Poland compared to other EU countries and for the development of our country’s regions.

The effort we have made to acquire EU funds will bring huge benefits to all Polish people and investments co-financed from EU funds will visibly improve the quality of our daily lives. They will allow our economy to move to a higher level of competitiveness and resilience to crises’,

Minister Puda said.

The Minister pointed out that support for enterprises, investing in digital development, energy infrastructure, environmental protection and low-carbon transport are among the main objectives pursued in the new financial perspective of spending EU resources.

‘Beneficiaries will be able to apply for funds for innovative activities. It is the key to the growth of Polish companies. European Funds will also make it easier to introduce new, improved products and services to the market’,

the Minister said.

Advance payment received by Poland – EUR 1,066 million (more than PLN 5 billion)

By 28 December 2022, Poland had received advance payments from the EC (under the 2021-2027 financial perspective) totalling EUR 1066 million (more than PLN 5 billion). This amount included:

- under the European Funds for follow-ups of national programmes: EUR 606 million (more than PLN 2.85 billion),

- under the European Funds for 16 regions: EUR 460 million (PLN 2.15 billion).

We are planning to launch the first tenders under the EFICE and EFEP programmes in the second quarter of 2023. In turn, first tenders under the EFME programme are to be announced in February 2023. They will allow companies to obtain funding for the purchase or implementation of R&D work, the implementation of new technological solutions, the development of employee competencies in an enterprise, digitisation and the introduction of green technology solutions.

First calls under the EFDD (European Funds for Digital Development) are planned for the 1st half of 2023. The first step will be to announce a call for projects by telecommunications enterprises to increase access to ultra-fast broadband. In turn, first measures financed in the FERS (European Funds for Social Development) under the European Social Fund Plus will be launched in the 1st quarter of 2023 to create new childcare places for children under three and to offer loans for new businesses.

16 regional programmes approved by the EC

Minister Puda stressed that 2022 ends with the approval of the European Commission for 16 Regional Programmes for Poland under the financial perspective for the years 2021-2027.

‘In total, this is approximately EUR 33.5 billion to be implemented in individual voivodeships in the next few years’,

the Minister said.

Just Transformation Fund for 5 voivodeships

Minister Puda stressed that the inclusion of two new regions (Małopolskie and Łódzkie) in the Just Transition Fund in the new EU financial perspective in addition to the three regions previously proposed by the EC: Śląskie, Dolnośląskie and Wielkopolskie also proved to be a major negotiating success.

The Fund is supposed to alleviate negative consequences of the energy transition in those regions whose economies are based on mining (especially fossil fuels).

Programme continuation for Eastern Poland

‘The possibility to continue the programme dedicated to Eastern Poland in the 2021-2027 perspective is our great success in the negotiations’, the Minister said. He stressed that the European Commission was not convinced for a long time (the Partnership Agreement 2014-2020 provided that the programme for Eastern Poland would not be implemented in the next perspective).

Additionally, programme allocation was increased to EUR 2.6 billion. The Mazowieckie voivodeship (without Warsaw) was also covered with the support. Previously, the programme included the Lubelskie, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie, Warmińsko-Mazurskie and Świętokrzyskie.

Third edition of Norwegian and EEA funds

Under the third edition of the Norwegian and EEA Funds, Poland benefits from a total budget of approximately EUR 800 million to finance projects in areas such as entrepreneurship, regional development, environment, scientific research, health, culture, education and justice.

Poland is at the project implementation stage. Up till now, funding was provided to more than 860 projects selected from among 3,600 applications in 42 open calls. Calls for proposals ended in 2022. Eligibility period for project expenditure expires on 30 April 2024.

Second edition of Swiss funds

In December 2022, the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy signed an agreement with Swiss partners relating to the second edition of the Swiss-Polish Cooperation Programme.

‘It is another program we will be able to use for investments supporting Poland’s economic and social growth’,

Minister Puda said. 

Poland will receive 320.1 Swiss francs under the second edition of the programme. We will spend that amount to support medium-sized towns that are losing their socio-economic functions and the development of innovations and scientific research.                          

World Urban Forum WUF11

The Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy and UN Habitat were organisers of the June World Urban Forum (WUF11) in Katowice. It is the world's largest event on urban development. Nearly 10 thousand people from 155 countries and more than 6 thousand Internet users participated in it.

The event was an opportunity to discuss urban transformation and share the related experience. The official presentation of the National Urban Policy adopted by the Council of Ministers several days earlier took place at WUF11. The event featured numerous panel discussions about urban policy and sustainable development of cities. We have launched the initiative entitled Action Plan for Cities under which more than 100 cities received individual advisory support for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals at a local level. The Action Plan for Cities met with the unequivocal approval of the UN-Habitat (UN) and became one of the key elements of WUF11 heritage.

Poland is the leader in the use of EU funds

Poland has been the leader in the use of EU funds while being the largest beneficiary of the transferred funds.

According to the data of the European Commission as on 21 December 2022, the EU transferred the highest payments to Poland, i.e. EUR 64.3 billion equal to 81 percent of the Polish allocation. This amount gives our country the 3rd place among the 28 EU member states.  We are behind countries with a much lower allocation and number of operational programmes.

Funds transferred to Poland are almost a quarter of the funds offered by the EU to 28 member states and nearly EUR 1,700 per resident in Poland.

Support for Ukraine

Beneficiaries of Poland-(Russia) and Poland-(Belarus)-Ukraine trans-border cooperation programmes implement actions worth more than EUR 1 billion for Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees in Poland. We are working on the launch of another tranche of aid worth approximately EUR 5 million, which will include both the extension of existing projects and support for new initiatives. The most needed equipment is bought for these funds and Polish entities donate it to partners from Ukraine, retro-fit and support entities that help refugees.