More than PLN 208bn was granted by the European Union over the past five years for investments in Poland. Local governments, claims the Gazeta Polska codziennie daily, got the biggest piece of the cake, borrowing money from the EU for what were called the “own contributions”, in order to implement EU projects. As a result, the number of cities and municipalities which exceeded the permitted debt’s threshold rose to 130 across Poland, from the 70 recorded last year. The debts have already reached the upper limits, which is 60 percent of the annual revenues the government is producing. It means Poland could soon face extra charges for taking EU money, meaning that Poland would end up paying into the EU budget more than it gets out.
