The European Commission on Thursday officially approved an allocation of 137 billion euros ($148. 3 billion) for Poland.
The commission suspended investments in Poland in 2022 due to concerns.
Poland could access some €76. 5 billion in team-building budgeting to support the living standards of the EU’s poorest member states.
It will also need about €60 billion from a post-Covid recovery fund. The latter still needs to be approved by EU member states.
“Today we turn the page on the rule of law issues [with Poland] by acknowledging the progress made through the government,” European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Poland’s past government continually clashed in Brussels over reforms to its judicial formula that the EU said undermined judicial independence, one of the basic tenets of EU law. Last June, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the EU’s highest court, ruled that Poland’s 2019 judicial reform was illegal and should be repealed.
After winning elections in October 2023 and being appointed in December, Poland’s new Prime Minister Donald Tusk has vowed to oppose the previous government.
Last week, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised “good news” by praising Tusk for its efforts.
Poland’s Justice Minister Adam Bodnar was in Brussels last week to present the new government’s plan, which is made up of legislation aimed at rolling back questionable reforms.
Parts of this plan feature new legislation, which Polish President Andrzej Duda of the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, which the previous government controlled, could still veto.
BASS/WD (AP, DPA)