- It is not just the unblocking of the NRP and the European Funds, as it was the first step. This is the acceleration with good public investment. To date, approximately PLN 30 billion of grants have been awarded to NRP beneficiaries. It also means a change in these investment projects. We have re-allocated funding to ventures that are close to people. Much more money is allocated to local Poland, among others, for modern agriculture and health, including district hospitals and long-term care. We are investing much more in the civilisation change such as local water and sewage investment projects and the thermal modernisation of schools 

- Minister Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz claims.

European funds develop all Poland

The unblocking of funds is the result of work of the whole government, coordinated by the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy.

As a result, Poland has already received PLN 67 billion from the NRP, from three requests for payment. By the end of the year, it will receive a further PLN 26 billion. We have already signed over 871 thousand agreements for almost PLN 153.9 billion.

The highest payouts since January 2024 have been received for, among others:

• over PLN 7.4 billion - thermal modernisation of residential buildings and replacement of old and inefficient solid fuel heat sources with modern heat sources,
• over PLN 2.9 billion - investment improving the condition of the railway infrastructure,
• almost PLN 2.5 billion - measures to diversify and reduce the supply chain of agricultural and food products and build the resilience of actors in the chain,
• almost PLN 2 billion - purchase of passenger rolling stock,
• PLN 5.6 billion - support for the national power system,
• PLN 2.3 billion - investment for green transformation of cities.

More than 13 thousand new places in crèches and children's clubs have so far been created for the NRP money. 48 Sectoral Skills Centres have been set up to develop the skills needed in the modern labour market. 407,600 vouchers were issued for the purchase of laptops for teachers.

We also carried out NRP revisions. In the latest revision proposed to the EC, we further tailor the NRP to the needs of our economy. Among others, we are negotiating the following issues with the European Commission: the elimination of the registration and environmental fee on internal combustion cars from the NRP, investment in secure satellite communication, three times more funding for Polish SMEs and more than twice as much for water and sewerage investment in rural areas.

As part of the Cohesion Policy 2021-2027, Poland has the largest budget among European Union Member States. To date, we have already received PLN 41 billion from national and regional programmes, and by the end of the year this amount will rise to approximately PLN 57 billion.

In December 2023, we had 800 grant agreements with beneficiaries. There are now more than 20 thousand of such agreements. The value of EU funding awarded to beneficiaries increased in this period from PLN 24 billion (7% of the allocation) to PLN 169 billion (53% of the allocation).

The EU Cohesion Policy funding by selected main areas of support:

• Transport (road and rail infrastructure, rolling stock, digitalisation, urban transport) - PLN 43 billion,
• Energy efficiency - PLN 14 billion,
• Research and innovation activities - PLN 7 billion,
• Infrastructure and support for primary, secondary and higher education - PLN 7 billion,
• Health - PLN 4 billion,
• Renewable energy - PLN 7 billion,
• Wastewater treatment, waste management, rehabilitation and reclamation - PLN 5 billion,
• Culture and tourism - PLN 4 billion.

A total of PLN 108 billion has already been received in Poland under the NRP and the European Funds.

Important transport and energy investment

Funds from the European Union support the modernisation of roads, railways and public transport. Due to these investment projects, Poland is becoming an increasingly attractive place to live and work. New investment in energy will help to ensure our country's energy security and meet the growing demand for natural gas.

After the 12.9 km-long second carriageway of the Łomża bypass was opened to traffic on 2 October this year, the entire Polish section of the Via Baltica route is ready. Since 2004, the S8 and S61 roads have been built with the support from the EU money. In total, the funding amounted to almost PLN 3.3 billion.

The fourth call for proposals from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) in the transport sector has been concluded. The European Commission has awarded funding for five projects implemented on the territory of Poland totalling more than EUR 452 million. The support will be provided to investment in railways, seaports as well as smart and interoperable transport solutions.

Recently, with EU support, we completed the Kędzierzyn-Koźle - Racibórz gas pipeline, which will allow us to provide stable gas transport for customers in the Śląskie and Opolskie voivodeships. The completed investment is the first stage of the project: Construction of the Kędzierzyn-Koźle - Racibórz - Rybnik gas pipeline. In total, almost 76 km of new gas pipeline network will be built.

We have concluded three further funding agreements. Due to the EU support, the Lewin Brzeski - Nysa gas pipeline, the Lviv gas compressor station and the Wężerów - Przewóz gas pipeline will be built.

Poland first in EU to launch the Security and Defence Fund

Due to the efforts of the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy, Poland will be the first country to invest EU money in security. We will receive approximately PLN 20 billion from the NRP for this purpose, half of which will be allocated directly to local authorities. The funds will mainly be used for the development of infrastructure related to the protection of civilians.

The money from the Security and Defence Fund will be used to fund projects related to:

• the protection of the population - construction of shelters and protective facilities for the population as well as modernisation and construction of the infrastructure necessary to safeguard social needs (water intake, food storage facilities, communication systems),
• dual-use infrastructure - railways and roads that can be used for military mobility,
• modernisation of industry - investment to increase the productivity of companies, support for R&D in dual-use areas,
• protection of critical infrastructure (including cyber security).

It will be possible to implement projects financed by the SDF after 2026, i.e. after the end of the NRP.

The revolution in the support for business innovation

- We have made a very big change in the area of support for Polish innovation. Innovation is the only way for sustainable development and today this is one of the greatest challenges for Poland, the minister added.

The European Commission has accepted the amendments to the European Funds for a Modern Economy 2021-2027 programme, as proposed by the MDFRP. This allowed the creation of the Critical Technology Support Fund. This is a new funding facility that will support, in the form of grants, critical sectors for the development of the Polish economy, including biotechnology, digital technologies and clean and resource-efficient technologies. The fund budget of PLN 4 billion will strengthen the competitiveness of Polish companies. The first calls for proposals amounting to PLN 1.84 billion have already been launched. Further 14 calls are planned for launch in 2026.

The second new instrument approved by the EC is the Digital and Green Transition Fund. It is intended to support companies in the implementation and development of cutting-edge technologies and solutions, among others, in the areas of cyber security, digitalisation and environmentally friendly technologies and innovation. Entrepreneurs will be able to benefit from loans for digitalisation and greening, that will be partially written off once all the project objectives have been met. The fund's budget amounts to approximately PLN 800 million. Loans to entrepreneurs will be available in 2026.

We are also developing the market for venture capital funds in Poland. In September, three new private VC funds were established with the support of the European funds to invest more than PLN 400 million in Polish start-ups.

We have also added a new investment in the NRP - a credit guarantee scheme for Polish private companies. This will make it easier for entrepreneurs to access bank financing (investment loans, working capital loans).

Tailor-made solutions for Poland

The Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy is coordinating the preparation of the governmental National Development Strategy 2035. The process of drafting the document involved various ministries, regional level officials and representatives of various public institutions.

The horizontal objective of the Strategy is a polycentric development of the country, i.e. one based on a large number of small and medium-sized cities and not only on the largest metropolises.

In the Strategy, we focus on the competitive and fair economy, the mitigation of demographic change and security in the broadest sense - not only in the military dimension, but also in the digital, health or food dimension.

The strategy will also provide the basis for programming the EU financial perspective after 2027, indicating national development goals and priorities in the perspective up to 2035 and providing a negotiating mandate for talks with the EU. The new Strategy will ensure the development of a national position, the effective representation of Polish interests in EU institutions and the preparation of strategic documents required for the mobilisation of EU funds after 2027.

Public consultation on the draft National Development Strategy 2035 began on 10 September this year and will last until the end of October 2025. The adoption of the document by the Council of Ministers is planned by the end of 2025.

Measures for the eastern border regions

As part of the activities of the Ministry raised the issue of support for the EU eastern border regions. An extremely important event marking the end of the Polish Presidency of the Council was the two-day EU Eastern Regions High-Level Conference in Białowieża in June 2025. The discussions focused on potential opportunities to support the eastern regions of the EU in the new financial perspective for 2028-2034. Their aim is to guarantee security and create prospects for socio-economic development in areas immediately adjacent to the eastern border of the European Union.

Sustainable urban development

Over the past year, the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy has been working on the Sustainable Urban Development Act. This is a comprehensive regulation to provide sustainable and effective mechanisms to support the development of urban functional areas - the city and its surrounding urban, urban-rural and rural municipalities. For years, both local governments and local government corporations have been reporting the need for a more effective legal framework for cooperation within urban functional areas and with the voivodeship and the government, highlighting the lack of sustainable mechanisms to coordinate activities at various levels of development management.

The Act is expected to have real effects for residents and local authorities. Better cooperation between territorial local government units (LGUs) means more efficient fulfilment of public tasks, improved delivery of public services. Joint public transport planning will bring tangible benefits in the form of better access to transport for the inhabitants of the city, the surrounding municipalities and the entire sub-region, thus helping to bridge transport exclusion. Better connectivity of the municipalities surrounding the cities will increase the opportunities for their inhabitants to choose where to work, study, spend leisure time or use various other public services. It provides an opportunity to develop the talents of children and young people or to activate socially senior citizens living outside central cities.

Preparing for the EU financial perspective

In parallel, the MDFRP is preparing for the new EU financial perspective 2028-2034. On 16 July this year, the European Commission announced a revolutionary proposal of a new legislative package that significantly changes the way EU funds would be programmed and implemented.

The MDFRP is actively involved in developing the provisions of the package. Intensive preparations for future negotiations have already started during the Polish Presidency of the EU Council in the first half of this year. At that time, we agreed with other Member States on key issues for the future cohesion policy in the EU Council Conclusions on Cohesion and Cohesion Policy post-2027 and the Joint Declaration of EU Ministers responsible for the Cohesion Policy, Territorial Cohesion and Urban Affairs on the importance of the territorial dimension. Immediately after the publication of the draft regulations, we started their in-depth analysis and work on preparing the governmental position. In preparing this position paper, we are also listening to the opinions of various stakeholders, both from the local government party and from outside the administration.

At the moment, draft positions of the Government of the Republic of Poland are already prepared and consulted internally. The inter-ministerial consultation is in progress, to culminate in the official adoption and publication of positions to be used in the negotiation process of the package proposed by the European Commission. We estimate that the negotiation process will take approximately 1.5 years.