The EC justified its decision by Poland's satisfactory fulfillment of two "super milestones" that are to strengthen the independence of the Polish judiciary through a reform of the system of disciplinary measures for judges.

"The Minister of Justice has created a plan of action that combines non-legislative and legislative changes. We believe that they will be effectively implemented, so we decided that it is the right time to unblock these funds," said Vera Jourova, Vice-President of the European Commission.

On February 20, Adam Bodnar presented Poland's Action Plan for the Restoration of the Rule of Law at the meeting of the General Affairs Council of the European Union. The main points of the planned reform concern solving the problems with the National Council of the Judiciary, the Supreme Court, and the Constitutional Tribunal. The plan also includes the separation of the office of the Minister of Justice and the Prosecutor General and the introduction of a system of institutional enforcement of ECHR judgments. This is one of the most important elements in addressing the ongoing Article 7 procedure against Poland.

Actions taken so far to restore the rule of law

As part of the restoration of the rule of law, the Minister of Justice:

• prepared a draft law on the National Council of the Judiciary; the draft has already been approved by the Council of Ministers and will soon be debated in the Sejm;
• ended the repression on judges – giving clear information to the courts that EU law takes precedence – which was one of the flashpoints in our relations with the EU;
• held a transparent and depoliticized competition for the position of National Public Prosecutor;
• is working on a law separating the position of Prosecutor General from the Minister of Justice;
• announced a competition for the director of the National School of Judiciary and Public Prosecution;
• appointed ad hoc spokesmen of the Minister of Justice to conduct disciplinary proceedings against other judges, so that these cases would be conducted in a fair manner, by persons with appropriate experience and a clean record;
• initiated the procedure of joining the European Public Prosecutor's Office, which was blocked by PiS, the previous ruling party. Today, the EC took a decision confirming Poland's participation in EPPO;
• announced that the public prosecution will review all cases that were not initiated for political reasons;
• together with the government, started a review of Poland's positions in pending cases before the CJEU and ECHR concerning the rule of law and human rights;
• is reviewing the positions, recommendations and reservations expressed by EU institutions.

All actions taken by the Minister of Justice are carried out in constant dialogue with civil society and judicial organizations. This is done, among others, in the form of the Inter-Ministerial Team for the Restoration of the Rule of Law and Constitutional Order, which meets regularly.

The European Commission positively assessed the Action Plan for the Restoration of the Rule of Law in Poland and the previous decisions of the government and the Ministry of Justice. This opened Poland's access to approx. €60 billion from the NRP and €76 billion (in total almost PLN 600 billion) for Polish regions from the cohesion policy.

What will the first funds from the KPO be used for?

From the first payment, our country will receive over €6.3 billion (PLN 31 billion), including almost €2.7 billion as the grant part and €3.6 billion as the loan. This money will be used for, among others:

• The "Clean Air" (Czyste Powietrze) programme – related to subsidies for the replacement of old heating furnaces and insulation of single-family residential buildings;
• improving the safety of rail traffic – e.g. the modernization of railway crossings;
• construction of traffic bypasses and installation of traffic control devices;
• equipping and modernizing infrastructure in the agrifood sector;
• Further development of the “Toddler” (Maluch) programme, which supports the development of childcare institutions for children under 3 years of age, i.e. nurseries, children's clubs and daycares;
• access to very high-speed Internet in the so-called white areas.

Cohesion policy funds

Money from the cohesion funds (from the EU budget for 2021-2027 ) will flow to Warsaw immediately. Starting today, the European Commission will be reimbursing Poland for invoices sent (e.g. for the construction of a section of road or the modernization of a hospital). Since October 2022, refunds were not possible because Poland did not meet the condition related to the Charter of Fundamental Rights concerning the independence of the judiciary; we only received advances.

• This is over PLN 340 billion (€76 billion) – the largest cohesion policy budget of all EU countries. The money will be allocated to the implementation of investment programs at national and regional levels.
• Local governments will receive approx. PLN 150 billion (€33.5 billion), which will support investments in Polish regions.

Today's positive assessment by the EC of the unblocking of funds must still be approved by the Economic and Financial Committee (a body of the Council of the EU), which consists of representatives of EU countries, the EC, central banks, and the European Central Bank. The Commission has a month to do this, but this decision is only a formality and will most likely be taken sooner. It is then possible that the first funds from the NRP will flow to Poland at the turn of March and April. 

Press Office
Ministry of Justice