EU Commission sources: any change not in line with "milestones" will immediatialy freeze recovery money for Poland

The European Commission on Wednesday approved billions of euros in COVID-19 economic recovery funds for Poland, but the money will not flow until Warsaw makes reforms to the judiciary, the EU executive arm said.

TVN24 correspondent in Brussels Maciej Sokołowski has learned from sources at the Commission what further steps will now have to be taken in that regard.

EU officials say that now an "operational agreement" will have to be reached, that will specify the rules used to assess Poland's fulfilment of the "milestones". This process might take a few weeks and - as the EU Commission sources say - Poland will be able to send a recovery fund payout request probably no sooner than September.

The Commission has two months to examine the request and - as the sources told Maciej Sokołowski - it usually uses this whole period before taking decisions. This means that the first realistic time when Poland could receive money from the recovery fund is end at the of 2022, most likely in December.

TVN24 correspondent was also told that the EU Commission has clearly stipulated that any changes in regulations by Poland that is not in line with the "milestones" will immediately freeze recovery fund payouts.

Furthermore, the sources say, an additional "milestone" will be implemented at the end of 2023, meant to assess the verification process of the decisions taken by the contested Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court during its functioning.

The EU sources also told Maciej Sokołowski that the National Recovery Plan was not meant to solve all rule of law issues in Poland, and therefore the Commission "did not want to overuse this mechanism and not to overstep its boundaries". That is also why the EU executive has decided to tackle the issue of disciplinary regime for judges in Poland and their independence, and not for example the question regarding the new National Council of the Judiciary (KRS).

Maciej Sokołowski has also learned the prognosed recovery fund payout schedule for Poland:

- end of 2022 - 3 bln euro in grants, 1 bln euro in loans;

- Q1 of 2023 - 3 bln euro in grants, 1 bln euro in loans;

- Q3 of 2023 - 2 bln euro in grants, 1 bln euro in loans;

- Q1 of 2024 - 2.8 bln euro in grants, 1.2 bln euro in loans;

- Q3 of 2024 - 2 bln euro in grants, 1 bln euro in loans;

- Q1 of 2025 - 2.5 bln euro in grants, 1 bln euro in loans;

- Q3 of 2025 - 2.1 bln euro in grants, 1 bln euro in loans;

- Q1 of 2026 - 2.8 bln euro in grants, 1.2 bln euro in loans;

- Q3 of 2026 - 4 bln euro in grants, 1.5 bln euro in loans.