The European Commission today formally approved EU funding access to Poland, paving the way for €137 billion in funds.

This decision relates to the rule of law reforms that Poland has adopted and the most recent and immediate steps it has taken to address milestones in strengthening judicial independence. The decision was announced last week by the president of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, Mrduring her visit to Poland, in the presence of Prime Minister Donald Tusk. This brings to an end years of confrontation between Brussels and Warsaw, during which many European funds were blocked by the Commission on Violations of the Rule of Law by the former conservative government of the Law and Justice party (PiS), which lost the parliamentary elections last October.

In particular, under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the Commission completed its preliminary assessment of Poland’s first payment request. The Commission concludes that Poland has satisfactorily fulfilled the two “super-milestones” to strengthen important aspects of the independence of the Polish judiciary through the reform of the disciplinary regime for judges. It has also satisfactorily met another important milestone, regarding the necessary anti-fraud safeguards. Once confirmed by Member States, the Commission’s assessment today will allow €6.3 billion (net of pre-financing) to be disbursed in the coming weeks, out of a total of up to €59.8 billion in RRF funds to Poland.

Following the aforementioned reforms, the Commission also considers Poland to meet the conditions related to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and allows it access to up to €76.5 billion for the 2021-2027 cohesion policy, the European Maritime Policy, the fisheries and Aquaculture and Home Affairs funding programs.

The Commission also welcomes the commitment of the Polish government to address long-standing concerns about the rule of law, also going beyond those regarding the disciplinary regime for judges, as based on the Commission’s recommendations. During the General Affairs Council on 20 February 2024, Donald Tusk’s government presented an ambitious action plan for the rule of law in Poland to address the issues raised by the Commission.

“Today is a landmark day for Poland. Thanks to its efforts to restore the rule of law, we are now able to unlock access to NextGenerationEU and Cohesion Funds. We consider Poland to have achieved its first 38 milestones and targets by undertaking significant reforms,” ​​said Commission Vice-President Vladis Dombrovskis.

For her part, Commissioner for Values ​​and Transparency, Vera Jurova said: “Today we are turning the page on the rule of law issues with Poland as we recognize the important steps taken by the government. The judicial milestones in the Recovery Plan have fulfilled. The Commission was objective and supportive as it has always been in the past.”