Bienkowska upbeat on EU funds

2009-07-09



The release of EU funds by central government agencies has accelerated “at an impressive pace” in recent months and exceeded the half-yearly target by a wide margin, totalling 250% of the plan, regional development minister Elzbieta Bienkowska said last week. At the same time, she admitted that the performance of regional governments, notably in Lodzkie and Zachodniopomorskie, left a lot to be desired, and overall figures for the first and second quarters were disappointing as a result. However, the minister stressed that all institutions were now working at maximum speed, and that the third and fourth quarters should be much better across the board.
Bienkowska is confident that the government would meet its target of pouring PLN 16.8bn (€3.8bn) of EU funds into the economy in 2009. According to the minister, the total value of agreements already signed is PLN 31bn (€7.1bn), and agreements worth an additional PLN 20bn (€4.6bn) have been approved and are ready to be signed.
Also last week, the Regional Development Ministry unveiled draft legislation intended to significantly streamline and accelerate the release of advance payments of EU funds for investment projects.
Accelerated spending of EU funds is at the heart of the government’s efforts to sustain economic growth in the face of the global downturn.