Brussels, 29 February 2024 (dpa/MIA) - The European Commission on Thursday formally approved the release of €137 billion ($149 billion) of European Union funds withheld from Poland due to rule of law concerns.

"Today we turn a page on the Rule Of Law issues [with Poland] as we recognize the important strides made by the government," said EU "values and transparency" Commissioner Věra Jourová on X, formerly Twitter.

The money comes from two sources: €76.5 billion from a development budget controlled by the commission and almost €60 billion from a post-Covid-19 recovery fund. The latter still needs to be approved by EU member states.

The commission cut off funding to Poland in 2022, on the grounds that court reforms brought in by the then-incumbent government compromised judicial independence. Poland's new government, led by former European Council president Donald Tusk, is undoing those changes in a bid to comply with EU standards and restore the country's access to the EU budget.

On February 20, Poland's new justice minister, Adam Bodnar, laid out the new government's judicial reform plan to member states' European affairs ministers in Brussels, accompanied by Polish Europe minister Adam Szłapka.

Parts of that plan depend on new legislation, which could yet be vetoed by Polish president Andrzej Duda of the nationalist Law and Justice party, which controlled the previous government.

But senior EU officials said Thursday's decision to unlock Polish funding was based on the commission's assessment that Poland had achieved important "super milestones." The decision does not mean judicial independence has been fully restored, they said.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had announced that the decision was coming at a press briefing in Warsaw on Friday.

The total of €137 billion includes both overdue payments that were blocked and payments due in the next few years, which would also have been blocked had the commission not decided to restore Poland's funding.

Of the €60 billion earmarked for Poland in the recovery budget, €25.3 billion will be released as loans and €34.5 billion as grants.

All payments from this budget have to be approved by a sufficient majority of member states represented in the Council of the EU, following a recommendation by the commission.

This applies not just to Poland, but to any EU country seeking support from the recovery fund. On Thursday the commission recommended that the council should approve Poland's latest payment request.

"Once confirmed by Member States, today’s EU Commission assessment paves the way for the disbursement of the first tranche of €6.3 billion out of the total allocation of €59.8 billion in RRF [Recovery and Resillience Fund] funds to Poland," Jourová said on X.

The other €76.5 billion will be paid out according to an investment plan agreed between the commission and the Polish government.

The plan falls under the EU's "cohesion" policy, which funds development in the EU's less-wealthy member states. 

Payments from this budget are controlled by the commission and do not require council approval.

MIA file photo