The European Commission said it has “positively assessed” Poland’s fifth payment request for €7.9 billion under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU.
“This marks an important step in delivering the reforms and investments linked to this payment request, including support for digital technologies in schools, the use of satellite data, reforms to grid connections and the digitalisation of the electricity grid, the creation of low-emission urban transport zones, and the purchase of trams for cities,” said the Commission.
“The Commission found that Poland has satisfactorily completed the 16 milestones and 13 targets set out in the Council Implementing Decision.”
The payment request would bring the funds paid out to Poland under the Recovery and Resilience Facility to €42.05 billion, including €5.06 billion in pre-financing.
The Commission said flagship measures in this payment request include:
- Strengthening digital technologies in education: more than 500,000 teachers — over 65% of the total teaching workforce — received vouchers to buy portable computers, helping to develop digital skills. In addition, over 16,500 primary and secondary schools, representing more than 75% of all public schools, were equipped with laptops and tablets for educational use.
- Promoting the use of satellite data: the adoption of the Space Activities Act established a governance framework for space activities and for the use of satellite data in Poland. This also supports and encourages the wider uptake of satellite data, including in the public sector.
- Supporting urban public transport: 88 trams were purchased for three Polish cities – Wrocław, Poznań and Kraków.
- Improving transparency in electricity network connections: amendments to the Polish Energy Law introduced a uniform set of rules for connections to the electricity network across Poland, required the publication of data on available connection capacity, and enabled the electronic submission of connection requests.
- Deploying smart electricity transmission infrastructure: support was provided for the roll-out of a data hub for the electricity market, alongside power quality monitoring systems in 48 substations and three IT systems for the transmission system operator.