"Poland - More than just a destination for your £60 billion"

Come to Poland! (Your money is already here.)

Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2025

The United Kingdom subsidised Poland from 2004 when it first joined the EU until Brexit

Readers may be familiar with the television advert by the Polish Tourism Board, advertising Poland as "more than just a destination" for your holidays. This is true. It was also the destination for billions of EU Commission aid money, redistributed from the rich, net payers such as the United Kingdom to poorer countries such as Poland. In fact Poland has the distinction of being the country that received more EU (and UK) funding than any other country – by a long way.

Not only did the UK taxpayer fund billions of pounds’ worth of road, rail, subways, and other infrastructure projects in Poland since the Eastern European country joined the EU in 2004, the United Kingdom also subsumed more than 1.2 million Poles into its population.

Poland was the biggest beneficiary of EU (and UK) funds since it joined

It is a simple fact that Poland 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 €72.5 billion euros in net terms.

In effect, the UK 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 (approx. £62 billion GBP)

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 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

We rely wholly on patriotic members of the public to survive. Please donate today if you would like to continue reading us tomorrow, next week, and the weeks after.

Any credit card user

Quick One-off

From £5 - £1,000

Monthly

From £3 per month

Paypal Users Only - Choose amount first

Quick One-off

Monthly

Don't leave this to someone else. You are that 'someone else'.

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 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 at the time:

“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 changed but the country has a long way to go before it catches up with the UK.

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

Funded by the British, credit taken by the EU

For decades the UK was 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 Communist project. It has been responsible for wealth distribution on a grand scale – something that was 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.

Before Rejoiners try to tell us that countries like Poland are now growing fast and we will not have to subsidise them, the EU is planning to add six new member countries, all of which are impoverished compared to the UK. It would be the same story again. A massive redistribution of wealth from the UK to these new joiners.

Before you go to Poland, please don't assume that other people will keep us going - we don't receive enough to survive and we need your help today. Could you help us? We rely 100% on public contributions from readers like you.

If you believe in a fully-free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom, please join now by clicking on one of the links below or you can use our Support page here. You will receive a personal, friendly ‘thank you’ from a member of our team within 48 hours. Thank you.

[ Sources: EU Commission ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Wed 10 December 2025

Click here to go to our news headlines

Please scroll down to COMMENT on the above article.
And don't forget to actually post your message after you have previewed it!

Something to say about this? Scroll down for reader comments

Since before the EU Referendum, Brexit Facts4EU.Org
has been the most prolific researcher and publisher of Brexit facts in the world.

Supported by MPs, MEPs, & other groups, our work has impact.

We think facts matter. Please donate today, so that we can continue to ensure a clean Brexit is finally delivered.

Any credit card user

Quick One-off

From £5 - £1,000

Monthly

From £3 per month

Paypal Users Only - Choose amount first

Quick One-off

Monthly

PLEASE NOTE IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO COMMENT : You can write your comment under any existing comments below. After you have clicked to preview your comment, you MUST then click on the CAPTCHA system and send you comment, for it to be published. Thank you!

Reader Comments 8

1. Ashley Great Britain , Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 08:21:

When it comes to infrastructure, on a personal level I have to suffer a level crossing every day. I get stopped 90% of the time for up to 6-8 minutes going to and from work. The tail backs are often 3 to 4 hundred metres. In all, it takes 10 to 15 minutes to get through a 500m stretch of road and then you have the m25 to contend with.
If it rains there are a good number of large floods on my route too.
Decades pass and it all remains the same. Why can't some money from foreign aid or EU payments be used to fix these issues? No one cares. We get charged more and more for no benefit. Successive Cons/Labour governments and councils have a lot to answer for.
The country is dying.

2. Old Albion , Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 08:38:

Part of the answer to that Ashley is, our population is increasing massively year after year and the costs of that is swallowing our money.

3. Sparky , Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 09:57:

Above states that Poland defence spending has increased since joining NATO. Poland joined NATO in 1999, nearly 27 years ago. Poland defence spending increased from 3.8% of GDP last year to 4.5% of GDP this year. The British Empire declared war on Germany in defence of Poland in 1939, the support the UK currently gives is in our own interest as a shield, as first in the firing line should Russia escalate military action, particularly now that Trump is appeasing Russia over Ukraine. Trump did similar in 2021 for the Afghanistan/Taliban and now criticise Europe for all the Afghans coming to the UK.
.
Looks like the UK won't have access to the EU defence fund of £150bn, well done Brexit.

4. Mr Sceptic , Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 10:31:

Did the UK and Poland defence industries not sign a deal worth over £4,000 mln in Nov 2023?

5. NH , Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 10:56:

To be fair to Donald Tusk he did initiate a "transparency drive" to show complete openness in how EU funds are being spent. However he quickly closed it when he did not like the results. A fleet of yachts, a chain of vodka bars, a chain of sex clubs, a chain of swingers clubs, pizzeria's with tanning beds and a solariums etc.
.
Since the UK left the EU Germany is the largest funder of handout's to Poland. The new Polish President is so grateful he is demanding that Germany also pay them war reparations.

6. NH , Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 11:25:

3. Sparky
Most of Poland defence spending so far has been with South Korea and the USA who have not been giving handouts to Poland. What you have forgotten to say is if the UK had still been in the EU we would would have been the second largest guarantor for the EU £150 Billion defence debts and other debts. This would have effected the UK's credit position and finance costs and would probably have cost us more than any unguaranteed benefit.
.
The UK is spending £62.2 Billion on defence this year which is due to rise significantly. If the EU restricts UK access to their defence spending we should restrict their access to our defence spending.
.
Membership of the EU demands a public subsidy so private companies can benefit. In the case of defence these companies have a large proportion of foreign ownership and they have increased in value by 400% since the increased public spending after the Russian invasion. If UK defence companies believe paying the EU to access their defence programs is a good deal they can pay for it.

7. Ashley Great Britain , Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 17:30:

3 sparky, your last paragraph, that's great news. 6 NH elaborate's on it.
-
Nothing comes for free in the EU and in the UK's case we always end up giving far more than we get and giving away sovereignty in many areas.
We can run our own defence spending and procurement and do it with any country we like.
The EU will lose out because we have far better technology, machinery and weapons.
No doubt the EU are just waiting for Keir Starmer to cry and sign over even more for no gain.

8. GazzaBlack , Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 21:15:

.
JFD Global has secured a significant contract to deliver the core hyperbaric and saturation diving systems for the Polish Navy’s new salvage and rescue vessel, Ratownik.
The contract will see JFD integrate a full, classed hyperbaric chamber complex into the ship, enabling deep saturation diving and rapid-response rescue operations.
.
Under the deal, Ratownik will also be equipped to host the NATO Submarine Rescue System, the alliance’s primary rescue capability, which JFD has managed since 2015 on behalf of the UK, France and Norway.
The 2029-delivery vessel is set to become one of the largest in the Polish fleet and a central asset in Baltic Sea operations. Warsaw expects it to support both submarine emergencies and the growing mission of defending critical underwater energy and data infrastructure.
,
,
HII and Babcock have signed a new contract that will see major sections of US Virginia-class submarines built in Scotland, deepening industrial links between the two countries and broadening the AUKUS supply base.
The AUKUS deal continues to deliver for UK industry.
A deal not possible in its comprehensive form, if not for Brexit.
.
In fact
The UK, US and Australia have declared AUKUS "full steam ahead" after Washington completed its internal review, with all three governments shifting from planning to delivery of submarines and advanced tech.

Add comment:

Please note: Your email address is never published unless you choose to enter it.