Due to nearly a three-year delay in implementing the National Recovery Plan, the coalition government conducted a revision of the plan earlier this year. The new version is already about 80% agreed upon with the European Commission, and the entire process may conclude by summer, according to Minister of Funds and Regional Policy Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz this week. Simultaneously, the government plans to start negotiations with the EC to extend the completion deadline of the National Recovery Plan, as the time to spend most of the funds expires in 2026.
At the end of February this year, after nearly three years of standstill caused by the previous government’s dispute with the EC over rule of law, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the unblocking of European funds for Poland. This includes a total of 137 billion euros, approximately 600 billion PLN, from both cohesion policy and the National Recovery Plan, intended to provide a significant developmental boost to the Polish economy.
“Everyone is asking if we will manage to spend all the funds from the National Recovery Plan, and it is crucial to utilize as much of them as possible, but it is equally important how they are invested. We will measure the effects of the National Recovery Plan not just by how much we spend, but by the developmental impulse it provides for Poland, which we will evaluate in two or three years. Currently, the end date for the National Recovery Plan is set for 2026, but it is possible that we will sit down with the new Commission to try and extend this, to ensure the projects are of higher quality. Time allows for more quality in investing, better reforms, and better investments,” Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz told Newseria Biznes at the European Economic Congress in Katowice.
These negotiations would occur in coalition with other EU member states facing similar challenges in finalizing all projects planned under the National Recovery Plan.
“Of course, this is a question of institutional capacity because preparing a project, implementing a reform, or making an investment requires more than just money that can be tossed anywhere. These funds are meant to provide a developmental impulse for Poland. For regions like Silesia, this is a very important process of fair transition,” said the Minister of Funds and Regional Policy. “The energy transformation, thanks to funds from the National Recovery Plan, must occur in a fair manner, which is crucial especially for Silesia. It cannot happen in a way that some gain a lot while others lose a lot. This is what the Just Transition Fund is for, and Silesia is one of its main beneficiaries. The idea is that this transformation must have a human face, meaning people should feel that they have benefited from it, not lost.”
