PM: Key negotiations are behind us. At stake was PLN 770 billion, thanks to which we will be able to develop faster

During the EU summit in Brussels, Poland was very successful in its negotiations. Our country will receive PLN 770 billion from the EU budget, which will constitute a significant support for the development of Polish economy. The conclusions also clearly define the mechanisms for the release of European funds – they must not be subject to any arbitrary decisions and cannot be politically motivated. The adopted guidelines will have to be incorporated into the legal mechanism applied by the European Commission. This is more than merely an interpretation. It is a guarantee that gives Poland budgetary security. During the EU summit, the leaders also discussed, among other things, issues related to the COVID-19 epidemic and agreed on a new EU target with regard to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030

— underlines the Chancellery of the Prime Minister on its websites.

We read:

„Key negotiations are behind us. At stake was PLN 770 billion, thanks to which we will be able to develop faster and reduce the distance to the richest countries of Europe,”

— concluded Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. As he emphasised, in the conclusions agreed by the EC, „we did not give up on any provision negotiated a few days ago with Hungary and the German presidency”.

The European Council agreed that issues of budget protection and control and the prevention of corruption will be separated from the so-called rule of law issues. The guidelines adopted will have to be integrated into the legal mechanism applied by the European Commission. Moreover, a violation of the rule of law will not be tantamount to triggering sanctions. Poland will complete the budget ratification process if the conditions adopted by the European Council are met.

„The mechanism of conditionality was limited by very precise criteria. The conclusions adopted block the possibility of changing these principles against Poland in the future,”

— stressed the Prime Minister. As he added, the European Commission will be obliged to apply criteria that exactly correspond to the conclusions adopted by the European Council.

The measures negotiated by our country within the framework of the EU budget for 2021-2027 will help to strengthen the Polish economy and to come out of the crisis caused by COVID-19 faster.

„770 billion zlotys for the next 7 years are funds for development and creation of new jobs. This is a huge impulse for the Polish economy and a significant help in fighting the post-crisis situation,”

— assessed Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

EU leaders reached an agreement on increasing the target concerning the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. The agreement also creates conditions for a fair transformation of the Polish energy sector. Our country has obtained large funds for this purpose at the level of PLN 220-230 billion.

„Our partners in the EU know that the Polish energy sector has a unique character and that is why we have managed to obtain provisions that will allow us to offset the higher expenses associated with the emission trading system, i.e. the so-called ETS, in the future,”

— stressed the head of the Polish government.

Moreover, the European Commission is to develop a border fee system, which was in particular the subject of Poland’s endeavours. „There is no point in liquidating jobs in Poland to re-create them just 100 kilometers beyond our eastern border, in an area not belonging to the ETS system,”

— emphasised Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

As the head of the Polish government said, it was also possible to maintain the leading role of the European Council in the whole process, as well as to raise the issue of forests as an element of climate policy, which is important for CO2 absorption.

The leaders’ discussion also concerned, among other things, vaccines and mutual recognition of tests. The European Commission recommends to the Member States of the European Union the mutual recognition of the results of rapid antigen tests in the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 in order to facilitate cross-border movement, monitoring of cross-border contacts and treatment. In the field of vaccination, the European Commission has so far signed six agreements with vaccine manufacturers. As part of its vaccination strategy, the Commission recommends that employees of health care and long-term care centres, senior citizens and people with concomitant diseases be the first to get vaccinated. Member States of the European Union are developing national vaccination strategies.

During the EU summit, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki appealed to the European Medicines Agency to proceed with the certification of vaccines for COVID-19 as soon as possible.

„We believe that the negotiated EU budget, together with the vaccination programme, will lead to a rapid recovery of the economy,”

— said the head of government.

The European leaders also talked about EU-US relations and discussed issues related to European security.

According to Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, the European Union is to better protect its external borders.

„It is about avoiding the migration problem that occurred in the EU a few years ago,”

— stressed the head of the government.

Source: KPRM