Polish Regions: Education and Development

Polish Regions: Education and Development

In the EU’s funding period of 2021-2027, Poland will have around EUR 76 billion at their disposal, thus being one of the largest beneficiaries of the European Union.

The largest range of support is available to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Grants for them were provided primarily in the Regional Programmes (Program Regionalny) of individual voivodeships, but also from the Intelligent Development Programme (Programme Inteligentny Rozwój) and Eastern Poland (Program Polska Wschodnia).

In the upcoming seven years, non-grant support will be more widely used, i.e., credits, guarantees and loans granted by financial intermediaries, including banks and loan and guarantee funds. Their conditions will be more favourable in comparison to the commercial offer as interest rates will be lower and the process of obtaining it will be easier for companies.

There is special support in the form of co-financing for foreign operations. Such co-financing is possible in the regional programme and, in case of business development in the East of Poland, in the Eastern Poland Programme.

Co-financing is available both for preparing a strategy for implementation and for activities such as participation in trade fairs or economic ventures. Support is also due for financing the costs of consulting services or costs of developing a feasibility study. Micro, small, and medium enterprises which have their registered office or branch in the territory of Poland and plan to apply for co-financing in tenders organised within the framework of the EU Programmes may participate in the programme. The maximum amount of support is PLN 280,060.

The Eastern Poland Programme deserves special attention. It provides special support for five eastern voivodeships for their faster development. For the years 2021 until 2027, the Mazowieckie Voivodeship is additionally included, excluding the city of Warsaw.

The programme aims to consolidate the conditions for the competitiveness of the macro-region and to increase the quality of life in the eastern part of the country. This is to be achieved by increasing the use of the potential of tourism and health resorts for development, increasing the accessibility of public transportation to counteract exclusion of communities by improving communication infrastructure and thereby strengthening the settlement attractiveness of towns and villages, especially in times of climate change.

The programme provides for support in the following areas:

Energy and climate: development of intelligent energy networks, adaptation of cities to climate change,

Recreational facilities: supra-regional tourism products.

The programme has a budget of EUR 2.5 billion.

In addition, the European Funds for Social Development Programme 2021-2027 (FERS) (Program Fundusze Europejskie dla Rozwoju Społecznego) aims to support social and economic. The programme is addressed to local self-government units, scientific units, universities, and entrepreneurs. It is intended to help improve the professional and social situation of people with disabilities, develop social and civil dialogue and support the implementation of social policy in the areas of social inclusion, social services, and social economy. The concrete amount is not yet known.

For further details on the Polish Regions: Education and Development, please feel free to contact the EUFUNDINGHUB.