“That’s it, we got it!” », Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said. A few minutes ago, Friday 23 February, Ursula von der Leyen, who visited Warsaw, announced the release of 137 billion euros in Community funds to which Poland no longer has access due to its failure in the state of law. In doing so, the European Commission president ended a months-long standoff between him and the previous Polish government of the nationalist Law and Justice Party (PiS), which was ousted from power during October 2023 legislative elections.
She also supports Donald Tusk, who, like her, comes from the conservative ranks of the European People’s Party (EPP) and whose coalition is struggling to impose its democratic program on President Andrzej Duda, a member of PiS. Only one is authorized to sign the law. More than a year before the presidential election scheduled for the summer of 2025, the stakes are high. “This is a veritable mountain of money, which we will use wisely”Donald Tusk promised, whose country is the first net beneficiary of the Community Budget.
On Tuesday 27 February, the commission should formalize the announcement of its president by taking two decisions. The first concerns the introduction of 76.5 billion euros in cohesion funds, to which Poland is entitled during the period 2021-2027. To receive this assistance, Warsaw, like other member states, must confirm that it respects the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. In the autumn of 2022, the government of Mateusz Morawiecki decided it “This was not the case”So he himself was deprived of this money, recalls the spokesperson of the commission.
On January 17, Donald Tusk, after a month in office, announced that he was now up to date with his responsibilities, after a new assessment of the situation. Which will be approved by the commission next week.
Call for no rush
Another decision the Community administration must take on Tuesday concerns aid, a total of 59.8 billion euros – 25.3 billion in subsidies, 34.5 billion in loans at subsidized rates – that Poland can claim as part of the European recovery plan. July 2020 to help twenty-seven deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.
In order to benefit from it, Warsaw first had to fulfill several conditions capable of guaranteeing the independence of the Polish judiciary. On Tuesday 20 February, during a meeting of ministers of European affairs in Brussels, the Polish Minister of Justice, Adam Bodnar, presented Warsaw’s plan to respect these specifications. “Poland is moving from being a problem child in terms of the rule of law to being a champion of democracy”., The German minister, Anna Luhrmann, later welcomed the decision. Before adding: these propositions “Don’t benefit from the support of all Polish stakeholders and obstacles will be expected”.
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