On 21–22 April 2026, at the invitation of the Minister of Development Funds and Regional Policy, we hosted representatives of all the Group’s members – 16 Member States – as well as representatives of the European Commission, the European Committee of the Regions and the European Court of Auditors at the Ministry.

This meeting is taking place at a key point of the EU budget negotiations. We are discussing how to ensure fair rules for the new EU budget and how to preserve and strengthen the decision-making powers of the capitals and regions that receive investment funds

– said Deputy Minister, Jan Szyszko.

The session was preceded by a meeting between Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, Minister of Development Funds and Regional Policy and a delegation from Romania, which is an active participant in the debate on the future of cohesion policy and the forthcoming Multiannual Financial Framework.

Poland calls for maintaining and strengthening of the role of the regions. Our aim is for local authorities to play equally strong a role in implementing the Plan as they do in the current programming period, and to manage 44 per cent of the available cohesion policy funds. Each region will have its own chapter in the National and Regional Partnership Plan (NRPP) to take account of its specific development needs.

Together for cohesion

The Friends of Cohesion Group comprises 17 Member States of the European Union (including Poland), which are committed to maintaining a high level of funding for the cohesion policy in the EU budget.

Cooperation in this format enables countries to closely coordinate their positions, develop joint solutions for shaping future regulations and gain greater negotiating leverage in the talks with the EU. The aim is to exchange and coordinate positions so that we can speak with one voice as we enter the crucial stage of negotiations on the legislation concerning the National and Regional Partnership Plans.

We are designing the Polish NRPP

The MDFRP is responsible for coordination of the work on the Polish National and Regional Partnership Plan. The competent ministries, regions and a wide range of social and economic partners are involved in its preparation.

Drafting of the NRPP is closely linked to the National Development Strategy for Poland 2035 (NDS) which defines key objectives in the areas of demography, economy and security, supplemented by the strong territorial approach. The reforms and investments contained in the PPKR are expected to be based on the priorities of the SRP 2035.

According to the planned schedule, the PPKR assumptions shall be finalised by June this year. It is planned that the plan will be adopted by the Council of Ministers in mid-2027 and submitted to the European Commission to start the negotiations of the document.