Fuente: © European Union
http://europa.eu.int

EU: Commissioner Hübner encourages Poland to create conditions for good take-up of EU investment

/noticias.info/ Poland needs to ensure stability and transparency in its legal framework to ensure good take-up of EU investment in cohesion policy. That is the main message Danuta Hübner, Commissioner for Regional Policy, will deliver in Warsaw today during her official visit. She has meetings with Mr Waldemar Pawlak, Deputy Prime Minister, with Mr Maciej Nowicki, Environment Minister, Mr Cezary Grabarczyk,Minister for Infrastructure, and Mr Jan Rostowski, Minister of finance.

During her meetings, she will encourage Poland to create the best possible conditions for full take-up of EU investment for the years 2007-2013. Ahead of her visit, Commissioner Hübner said: "Poland holds all the cards to make a success of EU investment, but it needs to overcome remaining organisational and legal obstacles hampering the process."

The Commission will take part in a joint session of the Sejm and Senate Committee on European Affairs, which will discuss the need for a stable legal framework for EU co-financed investment, respecting the principles of transparency, partnership and sustainable development. Partnership means involving civil society and economic and social partners in the policy. "European Cohesion Policy can enable Poland to realise its full economic potential, and to achieve ambitious development goals,' she added.

The Commissioner will call on Poland to boost efforts to streamline the investment process and to create a business-friendly climate to improve delivery of co-financed projects. Poland is already taking a step in this direction with plans to make it easier to set up a business by cutting the time it takes from 60 days to one week.

Sound financial management is also crucial. This means processing payments promptly, while ensuring that expenditure is incurred correctly. The Commissioner's meeting with Mr Jacek Rostowski, Minister of Finance, will focus on meeting spending targets, and improving certification and audit systems.

The meeting with Mr Maciej Nowicki , Environment Minister, will focus on the need to ensure that Polish environmental law complies with EU legislation. The Commissioner will stress that Polish law must comply fully with EU provisions, to ensure that project promoters have legal certainty in their undertakings. Poland needs to adapt its law on environmental protection in recognition of the Directive on Environmental Impact Assessment, so that a project's likely impact on the environment can be analysed before decisions are made.

Poland also needs to adapt planning, construction and public procurement law in line with EU legislation. These questions will be raised at the Commissioner's meeting with Mr Cezary Grabarczyk, Minister for Infrastructure.

Background

The success of EU investment in Poland will depend on how the priorities of the Lisbon Strategy for jobs and growth are implemented. EU transfers give the country a real chance to modernise and improve quality of life. Long-term growth and sustainable jobs depends to a large extent on developing a knowledge-based economy, with close links between business and science.

Poland is the biggest beneficiary of EU investment in the 2007-13 programming period. It will receive EUR 67.3 billion, 19.4% of the EUR 347.4 billion allocation for regional policy. Of this, EUR 22 billion is from the Cohesion Fund, EUR 9.7 billion from the European Social Fund, EUR 34 billion from the European Regional Development Fund and EUR 1.3 billion from the performance reserve. Poland will receive EUR 13.2 billion under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and EUR 734 million under the European Fisheries Fund .

Further information about European regional policy is available at:

http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index_en.htm
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