The Commission announced its positive assessment on Monday, unlocking the tranche under Poland's Krajowy Plan Odbudowy (KPO), the national arm of the EU's post-Covid recovery fund. Payments are tied to verified completion of reforms and investments, and Poland filed this request on June 19.
Education featured heavily in the package. Under the "Laptop for Teachers" scheme, more than half a million teachers — over 65% of Poland's teaching workforce — received PLN 2,500 (EUR 580) vouchers for portable computers, while 16,500 schools were equipped with laptops and tablets, a response to the disruption schools faced when Covid forced classes online.
Poland also used the funds to buy 88 trams for Kraków, Poznań and Wrocław, pass a new law promoting commercial use of satellite data, and overhaul its energy legislation. The energy amendment standardized grid-connection rules nationwide, mandated public disclosure of available grid capacity, and introduced electronic applications for grid connections — part of a broader push, backed by KPO money, to modernize Poland's electricity transmission infrastructure and build out a dedicated data center for the power market.
The approval still requires sign-off from EU member states, who have a month to weigh in before the Economic and Financial Committee, the bloc's advisory body on economic policy, issues a final ruling.
Once disbursed, the new tranche will push Poland's total recovery-fund payouts to EUR 42 billion — nearly 77% of its full allocation — with the Commission saying the country has cleared close to 72% of the milestones and targets in its plan.
Poland's KPO allocation totals EUR 54.72 billion, split between EUR 25.28 billion in grants and EUR 29.44 billion in loans. With the program set to close out this year, member states must finish outstanding reforms and investments by August, and the Commission will accept final payment requests through the end of September.
(jh)
Source: PAP