Q: Since the European Union is shortly to start its debate on financial prospects for the years 2013-2020, could you assess its Cohesion Policy so far? Does it generally fulfill its assumptions? Should it be continued?

A: There is no doubt that activities taken up within the framework of the Cohesion Policy have significantly contributed to stimulating Poland’s economy, raising its competitiveness and reducing its development gap in relation to highly advanced EU countries. So far, compared to other new EU member states, Poland has made the most efficient use of the EU funds. Funds allocated for the years 2004-2006 were used in full. Far from becoming complacent, we continue to take the best advantage of the EUR67 billion allotted for the years 2007-2012. That is the biggest amount of funds made available to an EU member country in the history of the Cohesion Policy.

The positive impact of EU funds is clearly evident in numerous investment projects. Without EU support, the financing of these projects would be hardy feasible and in most instances outright impossible. The results are also evident in the performance of the Polish economy. Although most of the effects will be seen best in the years 2013-2015, a major improvement has already been observed in economic indices. Suffice to mention that in 2008 EU funds helped to increase the number of those gainfully employed by 118,000-124,000 people and to reduce the unemployment rate by 0.7%. That would not have been achieved without EU funding. During the economic slowdown, EU funds have been a crucial development factor. We reckon that investments co-financed by EU funds accounted for 50% of the GDP growth in 2009. However, macro-economic data do not fully reflect the impact of the EU Cohesion Policy on Poland’s development because of the diversity of co-financed projects.

Hence, there is no doubt in Poland and in the EU that the Cohesion Policy should be continued after 2013. It does promote the competitiveness of regions and is also one of the few EU instruments reaching the man-in-the street in a direct way. The question is not whether the Cohesion Policy should be continued but what form it should take in the future and what needs to be changed. We are actively involved in EU debates and negotiations on the Union’s future budget. It is in fact for the first time that we are involved in forming EU policies and financial decisions from the very beginning. The work of my government department has yielded measurable results. I therefore hope that the ultimate decisions to be adopted by the European Commission on reforming the Cohesion Policy will take account of solutions proposed by Poland.

Q: To what extent will Poland take advantage of opportunities offered by the current financial perspective? Will any projects be left that will be hard to complete after 2012 without EU funding?

A: The deployment of budget resources for the years 2004-2006 proved that Poland is making an effective use of EU funds. The Ministry for Regional Development is doing its best to ensure that the same is true with regards to funds allocated for the years 2007-2013. By now, 109,500 applications have been submitted to the Ministry to finance projects to the tune of PLN 253.6 billion. So far, 28,849 contracts have been signed with beneficiaries to co-fund projects to the tune of PLN 80 billion. That means that we have already allocated 30 percent of the total funds earmarked for the years 2007-2013. But the funds can be made available by up to 2015. In fact, the time frame of many projects, especially mayor ones, extends to 2015. Many investments are implemented in stages. Funds from one EU budget are used to finance part of a project and resources from a successive one are spent to carry on or complete the project. It happened in previous years that parts of one investment projects were financed from funds allotted for two different financial periods. One example is the express road between Warsaw and the city of Radom. The Jedlińsk-Białobrzegi section of the road and the Grójec ring road were built using resources allocated for the years 2004-2006, while funds for the years 2007-2013 were earmarked for the Białobrzegi-Grójec stretch of the road. We already know that the so-called Warsaw Road Junction, a system of express ring roads around the capital, is one infrastructural project that will not be completed using EU funds available from the present budget and will have to be completed in subsequent years.



Q: Will there be any need to change priorities in Poland’s regional development policy after 2012?

A: It follows from the draft of the National Regional Development Strategy for the years 2010-2020 drawn up by our Ministry that the perception of regional policy in Poland is changing. Clearly, not only EU funds are needed to ensure the development of the country’s provinces. Of crucial importance is also the strategy of earmarking these funds as well other public means in such a way as to ensure effective development of all regions of the country. We have therefore worked out a new concept of regional policy aimed at strengthening the potential of each province rather than just at leveling out the development gaps between them. The regional policy as we see it should respond to new challenges and stimulate effective development. The overriding objective of such a regional policy is to coax regions into tapping their own potential and drawing from their existing resources. We are intent in pinpointing the most valuable assets of the respective regions to spur up their growth using these very assets. Regions cannot all be supported in the same way. To be effective, means, including EU funds, have to be directed to those fields of endeavour which respective provinces themselves regard as most important. Deploying the yet untapped potential of the regions could become the driving force stimulating the development of a wider area.

To ensure long-term development of regions and of the whole country, the National Regional Development Strategy scheme endorses development-oriented measures and solutions enhancing their competitive edge. The aim of the scheme is to bolster the economic, scientific, cultural and administration potential of the province capitals as well as their co-operation with counterparts in the country and abroad. To this end, measures are envisaged to help spread development processes and the diffusion of resources from the faster developing centres into the less developed ones as well as to other parts of the land. To this end we intend to improve transport links with provincial centres, prop up medium-sized towns, promote the development of rural areas and support the respective regions’ specialities. Within the framework of the Cohesion Policy, additional support is envisaged in the National Regional Development Strategy scheme for measures preventing the marginalisation of areas incapable of overcoming their underdevelopment by themselves.

Under the new concept of Poland’s regional policy, the responsibility for its execution will be borne not just by the central government, but also by local government administration at all levels which will be working in tandem with civic organisations and business representatives. We also seek more effective coordination of policies to ensure that means assigned for regional development at the disposal of various government departments are allocated where they are needed most in the respective region.