2020-07-18 11:57 update: 2020-07-19, 17:38
Mateusz Morawiecki. Photo: PAP/Radek Pietruszka
There is no agreement between the northern countries and their southern peers on rules for disbursement of the recovery aid, Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki said in Brussels on Friday after the EU leaders ended their talks for the first day before midnight.
During an ongoing two-day summit, EU leaders are trying to work out the bloc's long term budget and a proposed EUR 750 billion recovery fund for the EU members' economies in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic.
"We have had several hours of negotiations and there are different positions on various issues (...) there is a group of countries that we call a group of 'misers' though they call themselves 'frugal,' who simply seek a smaller contribution to this (recovery fund - PAP) budget," Morawiecki told a Friday night press conference in Brussels.
He said that Poland is in favour of making this budget as generous as possible, but it is clear that there is no consensus between the South and the North.
"There are also issues related to the procedures defining the rules of distributing and controlling these funds," Morawiecki added.
He also said Poland objected to budget rebates for wealthy countries.
According to Morawiecki, it was hard to judge on Friday if EU leaders would reach a consensus on the bloc's long-term budget and recovery fund during the talks on Saturday or even on Sunday.
"With a high degree of probability, there may not be a deal tomorrow or the day after," the Polish prime minister said. "Some say there may be another round in July still. We are obviously ready for that," he added.
Morawiecki pointed out that from Poland's perspective there was also a dispute regarding the policy in the area of energy transformation and, recalling the conclusions of the European Council's December meeting, reiterated that Poland would need "its own path" to reach climate neutrality.
The Polish prime minister also spoke about rule of law conditions on access to EU funding. He reiterated that Poland does not want any arbitrary mechanisms that could lead to the fact that later "politically motivated states will make decisions for us on matters to which we would not feel bound by." (PAP)
