The untold story of the UK subsidising Poland for decades
Part III of our trilogy for the anti-British, anti-Brexit, (probable) new PM of Poland
Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2023
The United Kingdom has subsidised Poland from 2004 when it joined the EU
Poland has the distinction of being the country that has received more EU (and UK) funding than any other country – by a long way.
Not only has the UK taxpayer funded billions of pounds’ worth of road, rail, subways, and other infrastructure projects in Poland since it joined the EU in 2004, the United Kingdom has also subsumed more than 1.2 million Poles into its population, as we reported yesterday.
A Brexit Facts4EU.Org Series
Part I - The anti-British, anti-Brexit Pole who would be King
Part II – The British welcome for Polish migrants
Part III – How the UK has propped up Poland for decades (This report)
Poland has been the biggest beneficiary of EU (and UK) funds since it joined
It is a simple fact that Poland has received more funding from the EU (and thereby from the UK as a net contributor) than any other EU country – by far.
The EU Commission does not make it easy for members of the public to see how much each of its member countries pays in, compared to what they receive. We have therefore done the sums for readers and these are shown below.
Poland has been by far the biggest beneficiary. In the last budget period while the UK was still a member of the EU, Poland received over €104 billion euros.
The UK basically paid for Poland’s massive EU subsidy from 2014-2020
Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary
UK’s net contributions effectively paid for Poland in last EU budget period
- Poland received from the EU, net : €72,519.4m
- UK contributed to the EU, net : €70,206.8m
[Source : EU Commission, 19 Oct 2023.]
© Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2023 - click to enlarge
In net terms (revenues minus contributions) Poland received € 72,519.4m - more than twice the amount of any other EU country in the last budgeting period.
In that same time the UK made NET contributions to the EU of € 70,206.8m, which effectively means that the UK taxpayer funded nearly all the billions which Poland received. These are only the sums in the last 7-year budgeting period. They do not include all the monies Poland has received since it joined the EU in 2004, and in pre-accession funds before that.
Want to see your spanking new underground terminus? No problem, just go to Poland
The following comes from a report we published shortly after the UK left the EU, but the expenditure was all initiated while the UK was making net contributions to the EU and any residual costs will continue to be passed on to the UK, under Theresa May’s disastrous ‘Divorce Bill’ settlement.
This spending came from two sources :-
- The EU’s Regional Development Fund (ERDF): €1,652,765,051
- The EU’s European Social Fund (ESF): €634,615,728
- Total : €2,287,380,779
Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary
Want to travel “EU Class” to work today? Try Poland, courtesy of the UK taxpayer
Łódź has a population of just 685,000, making it smaller than Nottingham. The EU has spent UK money building an underground system there.
Facts4EU.Org Case Study
A new Underground for Łódź in Poland
Łódź Fabryczna station - Wikipedia Commons Licence - click to enlarge
In August 2018 the EU Commission approved additional expenditure on top of what it had already sanctioned, for some railway improvements in the city of Łódź, Poland. The last time we checked, the total was nearly £0.6 billion pounds.
Here is the EU’s statement:
“Łódź has two main stations: Łódź Fabryczna and Łódź Kaliska, which are currently not connected to each other. This is a major obstacle to the region’s transport development and an everyday inconvenience for those living in the city.”
“In Łódź, the Cohesion Fund is financing the construction of an underground line between the two stations, and to Łódź Żabieniec station in the west of the city.”
- EU Regional & Urban Development Directorate, 28 Aug 2018
Here is what the then EU Commissioner said about this funding for the Lodz railway connection:-
“Soon, those living in the city will be able to get across town faster and will benefit from better interregional connections, with an effective and environmentally friendly transport system.”
- EU Commissioner for Regional Policy, Ms Corina Crețu from Bulgaria, 28 Aug 2018
In summary, 'the EU' financed a new underground system for Poland’s third city, Łódź, to make life easier for Polish commuters. In reality this sort of funding would not have been possible without the UK taxpayer.
The UK has steadfastly provided defence for Poland
When Poland joined NATO it failed to meet the required minimum of spending at least 2% of its GDP on defence. Recently this has been changing but the country has a long way to go before it catches up with the UK.
© Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2023 - click to enlarge
When Poland does buy military equipment it does so predominantly from its neighbour Germany or from the US, rather than from the UK. Despite this, the UK has been steadfast in providing defence capabilities for Poland since it was freed from the Soviet Union.
Observations
All things being equal, Poland will shortly have an EU fanatic as its Prime Minister in the form of Donald Tusk, the anti-Brexit and (frankly) anti-British former EU Council President. In time we will once again start hearing his disparaging and condescending remarks about the United Kingdom, whenever he visits his chums in Brussels.
In this series of three reports we have to an extent launched a ‘pre-emptive strike’. This has been aimed at Mr Tusk and his EU-loving comrades, not at the Polish people. It is also aimed at all the Remainer-Rejoiners and the large elements of the British media who have such a rose-tinted view of the European Union.
Funded by the British, credit taken by the EU
For decades the UK has been the second-largest net contributor to the EU Commission’s coffers (after Germany) and is still the largest European funder of the military defence of Europe.
Take a trip across Poland and you will find many glossy and impressive infrastructure projects displaying “Funded by the EU” plaques fixed to the walls. In reality these would not have been possible without the UK’s funding. Have the British people ever been given any credit? No. Can Remainer-Rejoiners point to a magnificent railway terminus (such as the one we featured above) or underground system in the UK, funded by the EU? No.
In reality the EU has been a very large wealth distribution project – something never explained to the British people. With urgent needs at home, the UK gave freely to the EU to provide facilities in many poorer EU countries which people can only dream of having at home. Spanking new motorways in Poland, potholes and crumbling Victorian buildings in the UK.
As we showed yesterday, more than three times as many Poles used this to move to the UK, to say nothing of the 1.5 million Romanians and others. This will be the subject of a Facts4EU.Org report in the coming days.
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[ Sources: EU Commission | NATO ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Thurs 19 Oct 2023
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