Last Friday, the European Commission approved the so-called operational arrangements regarding the Polish KPO. It is a bilateral technical agreement that has yet to be signed by Poland and the EC. The correspondent of RMF FM radio was the first to give this information. PAP confirmed it in parallel in its own sources.
According to PAP information, the signing of operational arrangements could take several weeks. In response to the PAP’s question, the EC explained that “this is a bilateral agreement of a technical nature between the Member State concerned and the Commission, setting out the evidence needed to demonstrate that the various milestones and milestones have been achieved and what the cooperation with each Member State will look like.” to monitor the implementation of each KPO”.
Milestones
The Commission has indicated that once these documents are signed, Member States can submit their first payment applications, provided they have reached the relevant milestones.
In the case of Poland, these are milestones related to the strengthening of some aspects of the independence of the Polish judiciary and the use of Arachne, an IT tool that supports Member States in their anti-fraud activities. No payout is possible without achieving these milestones. The Commission then has a maximum of two months to consider this request for payment and to present its initial assessment to the Council’s Economic and Financial Committee, which must deliver its opinion within one month.
explained the EC.
She also recalled that the EU Council approved the Polish FPA on 17 June. This concerns EUR 23.9 billion in grants and EUR 11.5 billion in loans. The financing agreement and the loan agreement between the Commission and the Polish authorities have been finalized and entered into force.
kk/PAP
Source: wPolityce