If approved, Warsaw could get 23 billion euros in EU grants and 34 billion in cheap loans.
The EU executive, responsible for paying out from the bloc's 800-billion-euro ($920-billion) pandemic recovery fund, has yet to unlock the cash with Poland, as rows brew over the rule of law and primacy of EU law in the country, the Reuters news agency wrote on Friday.
According to the outlet, the approval is stalled as the Commission believes that Poland’s right-wing government has been undermining the independence of courts, media and non-governmental organisations. It also refuses to implement the verdicts of the EU’s top court, the agency writes.
Addressing these shortcomings is a condition for the approval of EU grants and loans under the recovery scheme.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, officials said that a highly contested conditionality mechanism that was key to the recovery fund when it was agreed in 2020 could be used in the coming weeks, Reuters reported.
While the plans of most other countries have already been given the go-ahead and the first billions in pre-financing have been disbursed, Warsaw as well as Budapest have been waiting for a go-ahead for months.
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Source: Reuters