Poland’s recovery and resilience plan

RRF FUNDED PROJECTS IN POLAND

WHAT’S IN THE PLAN?

The reforms and investments in Poland’s plan are helping it to become more sustainable, resilient and better prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the green transition and digital transition. Following Council approval of Poland’s plan on 17 June 2022, Poland’s recovery and resilience plan was updated on 08 December 2023 also to introduce a REPowerEU chapter.

• 56 investment streams and 55 reforms
• 46.6% of the plan will support the green transition 
• 21.3% of the plan will support the digital transition

The transformative impact of Poland’s plan is the result of a strong combination of reforms and investments that address the specific challenges of Poland. The reforms address bottlenecks to lasting and sustainable growth, while investments are targeted at decarbonising the Polish economy, accelerating the digital transition and reinforcing Poland’s economic and social resilience. The plan also intends to strengthen important aspects of the independence of judiciary. 

All measures have to be implemented within a tight time frame, as the Regulation establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility requires all milestones and targets within the national plans to be completed by August 2026.

Poland’s plan now includes seven reforms and ten investments to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, in line with one of the REPowerEU Plan's objectives.

Key measures for REPowerEU

Poland’s REPowerEU chapter aims to increase the resilience of the Polish energy system and to accelerate the green transition of key economic sectors.  Firstly, the reform and investment related to energy communities aim to facilitate the deployment of renewable energy sources by such communities, by establishing an enabling, simple and comprehensive framework for and by providing pre-investment support to energy communities. Secondly, the REPowerEU chapter includes reforms aiming to streamline the permitting for renewable energy sources and to accelerate home renovations, thereby accelerating the deployment of renewable energy and boosting energy efficiency in buildings. Thirdly, significant investments in an Energy Support Fund, which will provide financing for a wide range of investments, and in an Offshore Wind Fund, which will incentivise private investment and improve access to finance in Poland’s offshore wind energy sector.

In the area of climate and environmental policies, Poland faces the challenge of decarbonisation of the Polish economy and developing sustainable transport.

• The plan supports the green transition by contributing to increasing the share of renewable energy in the energy mix.
  • This includes more than €5.1 billion in funding for offshore wind energy plants and terminal infrastructure,
  • as well as key changes to the regulatory framework, which will facilitate the construction of onshore wind energy plants.
• The plan also foresees a reform to eliminate bottlenecks for imports of electricity. Moreover, the plan dedicates €3.5 billion to the energy-efficient renovation of buildings and provides €800 million to support the development of green hydrogen technologies.
• The plan also includes investments worth over €7.5 billion in green and smart mobility.

The modified plan, including the REPowerEU chapter, has further strengthened the focus of the plan on the green transition, devoting 46.6% of the available funds to measures that support climate objectives (up from 42.7% in the original plan).

Digital challenges for Poland include a lack of universal access to high-speed internet, digitalisation of public services and education, improving digital skills and enhancing cyber-security.

Key measures for the digital transition

• Poland recovery and resilience plan supports the digital transition with investments of €100 million to digitalise public administration with, for instance, the digitisation of invoicing and administrative procedures related to construction and spatial planning. €1.4 billion will be dedicated to ensuring access to high-speed internet in Poland.
• The plan also includes reforms to digitalise education and investments of €1.2 billion in digital infrastructure and equipment for schools, as well as in digital skills of teachers.
• Transformative reforms and investments of €532 million are foreseen to strengthen the State's cybersecurity capacity.

The modified plan has further maintained the focus on the plan on the digital transition, devoting 21.3% of the available funds to measures that support digital objectives.

Key macro-economic challenges for the Polish economy include low labour market participation of women and disadvantaged groups, shortcomings of the healthcare services and a need to improve investment climate.

Key measures in reinforcing economic and social resilience

• The plan reinforces economic and social resilience with measures for further development of childcare and long-term care, which are expected to improve the labour market participation of women.
• The plan also supports the accessibility and effectiveness of the Polish healthcare system, with €4.4 billion of investments in, for instance, support of hospitals and medical universities.
• Several reforms are provided for to improve the investment climate in Poland. This includes a comprehensive reform of the disciplinary regime applicable to Polish judges, which is expected to strengthen important aspects of the independence of the judiciary.

Poland’s plan is consistent with the challenges and priorities identified in the European Semester, the annual cycle of coordination and monitoring of each EU country’s economic policies. For a detailed explanation of the European Semester see the following link: The European Semester explained | European Commission (europa.eu)

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