Solidary Poland, a small Eurosceptic government ally that has opposed some elements of Poland's deal with the European Commission on an EU-funded recovery plan, has been aware of its conditions for months, said the prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki.
Zbigniew Ziobro, the leader of Solidary Poland, said on Saturday that his party would reject some of the conditions, known as milestones, set by the European Commission in order to release EU post-pandemic funds under Poland's National Recovery Plan KPO. Morawiecki said at a press conference on Monday that Solidary Poland had known about the milestones for months.
All the ratios, goals, and milestones were accepted by the whole cabinet on April 30, 2021 - all those who read the document are aware of what's in it, the prime minister said.
On Saturday, Ziobro said that Solidary Poland is not able to support all the milestones, for example taxing the use of internal combustion engines. The Polish government abolishes a judicial disciplinary tribunal, which according to Brussels lacks political independence, is one of the milestones.
Ziobro, who is also justice minister, opposes any changes to the judicial system made by EU institutions.
Morawiecki said he rejected any ideological insanity, referring to Ziobro's criticism of the European Parliament's plans to gradually phase out petrol and diesel cars, which Ziobro called ideological madness We will do everything to prevent the interpretation and implementation of particular indicators from hitting Poles and the Polish society, instead of what we care most about, which is innovation and a fast-growing economy.
The milestone issues enumerated in the country's National Recovery Plan KPO were approved by the European Commission on June 1, but Warsaw must show that they have been met before any payment of post-pandemic recovery funds can be made.
Polish National Recovery Plan KPO, originally designed for 2021 -- 27, is worth EUR 35.4 billion, including EUR 23.9 billion in grants and EUR 11.5 billion in loans.