At the plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) in Brussels, discussions focused on the new EU budget, the role of local and regional authorities in its development, the success of Polish regions in the implementation of the cohesion policy and the new priorities of the EU.

Almost PLN 14 billion will provide regions with greater flexibility in adapting their programmes to new the EU priorities: civil protection, security infrastructure, resilience to water-related crises, cybersecurity and dual-use investment. All Polish regions will take advantage of the opportunity to introduce changes to their programmes

– said Jacek Karnowski, Deputy Minister of Development Funds and Regional Policy who attended the meeting.

Due to the EU new priorities, some European funds will also be reallocated to support key investment in areas such as security, strategic public infrastructure and the construction of affordable housing.

Special support for border regions

The changes introduced also include the support for five eastern border regions: Pomorskie, Warmińsko-Mazurskie, Podlaskie, Lubelskie and Podkarpackie. In their regional programmes, at least 10 per cent of the budget has been allocated to new strategic priorities that will ensure their long-term development and enhanced security for their residents.

Due to the changes introduced, regions situated at the border with Belarus, Russia and Ukraine can now benefit from more favourable project funding rules, such as higher levels of co-funding, higher advance payments and an extended eligibility period for expenditure. We want to maintain special support for border regions also in the next EU financial framework for 2028–2034.

Debate on the future EU budget

Under the current 2021–2027 financial framework, Polish regions have received 44 per cent of the EU budget allocated to our country, amounting to over PLN 140 billion (EUR 33.5 billion). Until now, we have already contracted 58.8 per cent of this amount, i.e. PLN 82.9 billion,

Poland is an example of how European funds can be successfully implemented over the years. Our success story reinforces the idea of decentralisation and regional partnership in shaping the future EU budget – emphasised the deputy head of the MDFRP at the CoR plenary session.

We advocate maintaining the decentralised model for EU funds also in the next financial framework. As one of the cornerstones of the cohesion policy, the regions should continue to manage a significant part of the funds under the forthcoming National and Regional Partnership Plan.

At the MDFRP, we have also established a special task force comprising a wide range of stakeholders, including representatives of the regions, with the aim to support the work on the development of the National and Regional Partnership Plan for Poland for 2028–2034.