Poland has earned a clear path from Brussels to begin receiving gradually the 137 billion euros in European funds blocked by Brussels due to concerns over the rule of law. The government, led by Donald Tusk, who comes from the same political family as President Ursula von der Leyen, has pursued a plan to ensure judicial independence. On this day, Brussels recommended the first disbursement for Warsaw: 6.3 billion euros of the 59.8 billion euros allocated under the recovery plan.
“Today marks a turning page on the rule of law issues with Poland,” said Vera Jourova, vice-president for values and transparency. “Thanks to its efforts to restore the rule of law, the access to the NextGenerationEU program and the Cohesion Funds can now be unlocked,” added Valdis Dombrovkis. The Commission’s assessment is that Poland has met the 38 milestones and objectives, and once the Council approves the recommendation, the country will receive the 6.3 billion euros.
Within the recovery funds, the community analysis notes that Warsaw has satisfactorily met the two “super milestones” to strengthen judicial independence through reform of the judges’ disciplinary regime. The Commission also finds that Poland has fulfilled its commitment to use Arachne, a digital tool that supports audit and control systems in member states to combat fraud. This approval will allow Poland to start receiving, in installments and subject to Council authorization, the full 59.8 billion euros from the Polish recovery plan, including 25.3 billion euros in grants and 34.5 billion euros in loans.
Policy on Cohesion
Aside from recovery funds, the executive body had also halted access to the 76.5 billion euros allocated under cohesion policy, the fishing policy, and interior affairs. The Brussels assessment finds that Poland meets the horizontal conditions linked to the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights and can begin requesting reimbursement of cohesion-related aid.
The decision was highlighted last week by the Commission president during a visit to Poland, alongside the Belgian prime minister and the current Council president. The move comes after the Polish government presented a plan to restore independence to the judicial system after years of friction with the previous administration led by the Law and Justice party. Brussels considers that the disciplinary regime for judges has been deeply reformed and that safeguards exist to prevent judges from facing disciplinary liability for applying EU law or judicial rulings. The plan also guarantees respect for the EU’s primacy of law and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice.