Brussels, 04/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission and Poland are on opposite sides of the fence when it comes to the matter of transport infrastructure financing. On Wednesday 6 April, the Polish committee on the infrastructure and environment programmes of EU cohesion policy is expected to examine the Polish government's proposal to redistribute €1.2 billion to the road sector, an amount received under this instrument for the rail sector. The European Commission, which is also studying the proposal presented by Warsaw in January, considers on the other hand that subsidies granted to rail transport should be spent for rail.
According to information obtained by the Polish press agency PAP, the Commission may, where necessary, accept changes to the nature of the projects subsidised (for example, transferring funds for revitalising rail transport), but it is adamant that funds should remain exclusively for the rail sector. Warsaw, on the other hand, decided in January that subsidies received as part of this major cohesion policy programme should be transferred from the “environmentally-friendly transport” line to the “motorways and airports in the TEN-T network” line. Funds would now be used for the construction of new motorway sections in northern and central Poland. Warsaw has also informed the Commission of the infrastructure and environment committee's intention to recommend such a shift. On Thursday 31 March, after the Transport Council, the Polish transport minister had confirmed that talks between the Polish government and the Commission were ongoing. “The fact that the European Commission has changed its initial position and is allowing part of the funding to be devoted to revitalisation of the sector is significant progress as, for several years, when we were seeking to convince the Commission of this, we were unable to do so”, Cezary Grabarczyk said. In his view, Poland has problems with its rail projects which, in most cases, are carried out “several years behind schedule”. Cited by PAP in January, the Polish transport minister said he was seeking to spend all European subsidies to Poland for infrastructure projects. Those identified within the rail sector gave no guarantee that subsidies would be used before the 2015 deadline, PAP states.
The dispute has also stirred up a reaction from Polish organisations. According to the Polish Green Network, the follow-up committee should reject the government proposal, on one hand because such relocation of funding is possible and, on the other, because it is important that the government should focus on rapid use of European funds for revitalising rail links and stations or for the purchase of new rolling stock, the organisation states in a press release on Monday 4 April. The Polish Green Network believes spending on rail travel in Poland does not even cover the current maintenance costs and only 37% of all Polish rail infrastructure is in good condition. Only 8.4% of all links correspond to European speed standards (160km/h for passenger trains and 120 km/h for freight trains), the association sates, going on to indicate that, within the framework of the infrastructure and environment programme, Poland provides €11.36 billion for the road sector and just €4.89 billion for rail. (A.By./transl.jl)