Poland officially sends National Recovery Plan to EU Commission

Poland has officially sent the final version of its National Recovery Plan (KPO) to Brussels. "Today's we've completed the process of submitting of the National Recovery Plan to the European Commission" - Poland's government spokesperson Piotr Müller said at a conference on Monday.

The Deputy Minister for Funds and Regional Policy Waldemar Buda, also present at the conference, said the final consultations with EU Commission representatives had been held on Sunday. "The final version of the document has been sent. Therefore, it's not necessary to postpone Tuesday's parliamentary vote over the EU recovery fund" - Buda said.

He added that the final version of the KPO included all points agreed with the Left party and those discussed in public consultations.

The European Union will borrow 750 billion euros ($907 billion) for a recovery fund to help its members bounce back from the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Governments in the 27 member states have to submit for approval plans on how they will spend the money .

Poland has around 58 billion euros at its disposal, 23.9 billion euros in grants and 34.2 billion euros in loans.

The plan is to provide 2.1 billion euros for modernising the health service and 1.2 billion euros for shortening the supply chain in agriculture. Through loans, there will be 3.2 billion euros for offshore wind farms and 1.2 billion euros for housing. The recovery fund has created conflict in Poland's government and opposition. United Poland, a junior partner in the governing coalition, is opposed to the plan, which it says could see predominantly Catholic Poland forced to accept liberal policies like gay marriage and become saddled with debt. Lawmakers will vote on separate legislation essential to the fund, the Own Resources Decision which increases the upper limit for national contributions to the EU budget, at a specially convened sitting of parliament on May 4. Opposition parties are split on whether to give the divided government the votes it needs to pass the legislation, with some insisting the issue should be used to bring about early elections.