Brit-hater & Brexit-hater Donald Tusk from Poland set to receive €137bn from EU
Without Brexit the UK would have been sending even more billions to Poland
Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2024
“It’s who you know,” as the Commission rewards the new Polish government and its pro-EU PM
On Thursday (29 Feb 2024) last week the EU Commission of Ursula von der Leyen announced :
“Today, the European Commission has adopted two legal acts that will pave the way for Poland to access up to €137 billion in EU funding. These acts relate to the rule of law reforms that Poland has adopted and the more recent and immediate steps that it has taken to address the milestones to strengthen judicial independence.”
This move follows the Polish general election when – despite being defeated – the former EU Council President and Brit-hater, Donald Tusk – was able to form a government in Poland due to its electoral system.
Below we summarise the results
Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary
Polish general election results Oct 2023
- PiS (Law & Justice, previous ruling party) : 35.4%
- Civic Platform (Tusk) : 30.7%
- Third Way : 14.4%
- New Left : 8.6%
- Confederation for Freedom & Independence : 7.2%
[Sources : Polish National Electoral Commission | Polish National Electoral Office, accessed 05 Mar 2024.]
© Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2024 - click to enlarge
Under the UK’s electoral system the pro-EU Donald Tusk would clearly have been the loser. As it is, under Poland's system he is now Prime Minister.
“Special place in Hell” for Brexiteers
On 06 February 2019 while EU Council President Tusk held a press conference in Brussels with Irish PM Leo Varadkar where he said there’s a “special place in hell” for Brexiteers. He then tweeted it out :
“I've been wondering what that special place in hell looks like, for those who promoted Brexit, without even a sketch of a plan how to carry it out safely.”
- Donald Tusk, EU Council President, 06 Feb 2019
It should be noted that he did not do this from his personal Twitter account. This went out from the official EU Council President account, and as such it carried official weight. Remarkably there was no formal British government protest from Theresa May’s administration at the time.
Poland has always received more ‘EU’ funds than other countries – much came from the UK
Poland is to be given another €137bn on top of what it has already received. For years Poland has received more money from the EU budget than any other country. When the UK was still a member, it was of course a net contributor to the EU’s funds and as a consequence transferred billions of pounds to Poland, badged as ‘EU Funding’.
The EU Commission’s latest move uses borrowed money and is all part of the ‘Recovery and Resilience Facility’ (RRF). The first payment of 6.3bn will be made in the coming weeks, once approved by Council.
The Commission also considers that Poland now fulfils the ‘horizontal enabling condition’ related to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, allowing Poland to access up to €76.5 billion for its 2021–2027 Cohesion Policy, European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture, and Home Affairs funding programmes.
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 2024 - 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.
Last week the Commission announced a €1.8 billion fine for Apple Inc
The EU Commission has fined Apple over €1.8 billion for “abusing its dominant position on the market for the distribution of music streaming apps to iPhone and iPad users (‘iOS users') through its App Store.” In particular, the Commission found that Apple applied restrictions on app developers preventing them from informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services available outside of the app (‘anti-steering provisions').
Increasingly the Commission has been fining large US corporations for a variety of alleged transgressions of new European Union laws and policies. All of these fines are a useful source of funds when it comes to transferring large sums to countries such as Poland.
Observations
It is perhaps not surprising that the EU has no large corporations which can rival Apple, Meta (Google), ‘X’ (Twitter), and others.
The anti-entrepreneurial culture in the EU is stifled by its excessive use of regulation. Working under the Napoleonic code of law, the EU uses the precept of “You can’t do anything unless we say so.” The English Common Law system essentially says: “You can do what you like and innovate, unless there’s a law against it.”
Which is more likely to succeed?
Poland and Tusk
Despite losing the Polish general election late last year, the Brit- and Brexit-hating Donald Tusk has become Poland’s Prime Minister, as we predicted immediately following the vote.
As EU Council President, Tusk was unequivocally against the decision of the British people to vote to leave the EU. In addition he used completely undiplomatic language, for which he has never apologised.
Brexiteers were condemned by Mr Tusk in what amounts to ‘hate speech’ in modern parlance. He specifically said there is a ‘special place in hell’ for those who voted to leave the sclerotic empire he led at the time.
At no time has he ever recognised the vast sums the British public has given Poland - the country he now runs - to upgrade its infrastructure, while most Britons are desperate for upgrades to their own transport, health, education, and other public provisions.
This is the EU, red in tooth and claw.
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[ Sources: EU Commission | Polish Government ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Sat 09 Mar 2024
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