UPDATE: Polish Presidency overlaps with key moment in EU budget talks, says dev. funds minister
The Polish presidency of the EU Council overlaps with a key moment of talks on the future of the EU budget and the investment of European funds after 2027, Poland's development funds and regional policy minister Katarzyna Pelczynska-Nalecz told a conference.
#we have added quotes and information on the visit to Poland of Vice-President of the European Commission Raffaele Fitto#
"Today we officially inaugurate the Polish presidency of the EU (...), this presidency overlaps with a key moment of talks on the future of the EU budget and the investment of funds after 2027," Pelczynska-Nalecz said.
The minister reported that in mid-2025, the European Commission will present a proposal for a new EU budget, so the first half of the year, when Poland will preside over the EU Council, is important for talks on the shape of the future EU budget and the first proposals.
"On March 28, there will be an important general EU Council, whose conclusions will be the first orientation of the structure of European funds," the development funds minister pointed out.
As she stressed, Poland is today and in the coming months becoming a 'co-architect' of the future structure of European funds.
She listed four priorities of the Polish presidency in this respect: maintaining the role of self-governments and the developmental character of the funds, leaving key decisions on fund spending in member states; investment in border security and support for European competitiveness including SMEs.
"We understand that the funds must be linked to EU-coordinated reforms, but the key decision on the nature of these reforms should remain within the member states," Pelczynska-Nalecz stressed.
The development funds minister emphasised that security and border-related investments must be important elements of the future architecture of the funds.
"Our border is the border of the European Union. Investments in security on this border are investments in security in the EU," she added.
Among other things, representatives of Poland's Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy (MFiPR) announced a visit to Poland of the Vice-President of the European Commission Raffaele Fitto who is responsible for reforms and cohesion policy.
jz/ han/ ao/