Polish Recipe for Extracting Maximum Funds from EU Funds

Croatia’s strategic policy should focus on several key areas. This involves restructuring the country into several regions, adapting government policy to regional development, and strategically aligning Croatia with Poland.

writes Edis Felić
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Last week’s study visit to Poland organized by the Ministry of Regional Development, Forestry, and Water Management was certainly beneficial for about 50 representatives from counties and media from Croatia. The Polish hosts made a significant effort to provide guests from Croatia with information on how to extract as much money as possible from EU funds. Minister Božidar Pankretić himself stated in a conversation with Polish Minister of Regional Development Elzbieta Bienkowska that we came to learn from the best and that it is not shameful to admit that we still lack knowledge about projects partially financed by EU funds. The presentations should primarily assist county representatives who were in Poland with journalists. It is important to mention several key areas that Croatian strategic policy should focus on. This involves restructuring the country into several regions, adapting government policy to regional development, and strategically aligning Croatia with Poland.

Regionalization and Four Steps to Success

Poland began implementing reforms 12 years ago, aware that this was the only way to effectively draw money from pre-accession EU funds, and later from structural and cohesion funds after joining the Union. From the then 48 regions, they achieved political consensus on reducing their number, but as our Polish hosts explained, the reform process was not painless as many political and economic interests were at stake. They had to abandon the original plan to form 12 regions and in 1999 established 16 voivodeships that gained greater autonomy and could decide independently on which projects to initiate. The result is impressive as the voivodeships have increased their budgets seven to eight times to date. Marshal of the Małopolska Voivodeship, whose seat is in Krakow, Marek Sowa (who is otherwise the highest executive body in the voivodeship elected in regional elections) stated that he often has the opportunity to meet with representatives from regions in other countries and that Polish regions are envied for their level of autonomy. However, the decentralization process has not stopped as the Polish government is preparing to transfer new powers to the voivodeships. Decentralization, our hosts told us, is being implemented gradually as they evaluate each move in that direction after several years.

All of this was just a prerequisite for Polish success, but alongside decentralization, the Poles learned how to extract as much funding as possible from EU funds. They were aided by four steps. By transferring money from the national level to the regions, the marshals of the voivodeships and the dukes (a government institution that oversees the work of the voivodeship, with the government appointing the duke) signed a contract in which the government supported each region by not interfering in the distribution of funds, leaving that to the voivodeships, but strictly monitored project procedures. This was a kind of trial for later drawing funds from EU funds, which greatly helped Małopolska, one of the most successful regions in Poland. The second step towards success was the opening of the Małopolska office in Brussels in 2002, where the region employed a person whose task was to establish contacts and create an atmosphere for the acceptance of Polish regional projects while simultaneously acquiring knowledge in the EU center.
The third step was cooperation with Madrid, where the Poles learned a lot from a local advisor, and the fourth was the PHARE program, in which they trained well and extracted nearly 50 million euros, and the ISPA program, from which they received 155 million euros. All these steps, along with mandatory decentralization, were crucial for the success of the Małopolska Voivodeship and Poland in general, which is projected to receive 66 billion euros from EU funds for the financial period from 2007 to 2014. The Poles themselves stated that it would take them even 25 years to secure those funds without the funds.

The Minister Who ‘Leads’ Government Policy

The importance of decentralization, without which the Poles could not have made those four steps, is also recognized by Minister Pankretić, who stated that reforms are necessary in Croatia as well, meaning regionalization is essential, and he expects the same painful process as in Poland. The regionalization of Croatia is urgently needed if the country wants balanced development and the possibility for regions to receive part of the funds directly from EU funds. Herein lies the difference between Poland and Croatia, as in Poland, 75 percent of funds from EU funds are obtained at the national level, from where the government distributes them, while 25 percent goes directly to the regions. In Croatia, all funds received and to be received from pre-accession funds are at the national level, and there are no regions that could systematically plan their distribution. The second strategic direction is the adaptation of government policy to regional development. An important part of this strategic direction is, as could be heard in an informal conversation, Poland’s constant persistence and ‘bothering’ by knocking on the doors of EU officials who decide on projects. However, what is even more important is that in Poland, the most important ministry is the Ministry of Regional Development, and the strongest person in the government is Minister Elzbieta Bienkowska, who herself, half jokingly, half seriously, said that ministers are afraid of her at government meetings. Of course, it is not about fear, but about facing possible uncomfortable situations for ministers because Bienkowska asks them every time how the projects of a particular ministry related to regional development, which are financed with EU money, are progressing. In other words, the entire Polish policy is subordinated to regional development and extracting funds from EU funds. How well they were on the right path is confirmed by the fact that Poland did not feel the effects of the recession precisely thanks to projects financed by the EU. Therefore, the importance of Pankretić’s ministry should also be recognized by the future government, regardless of who the prime minister or minister is, as Poland’s strategic decision to adapt to regional development and extract funds from the EU has confirmed that it makes sense.

Regional Leader

The third Croatian strategic direction should be political rapprochement with Poland. This country is not an insignificant political factor as sometimes suggested by prejudices; it is also a regional leader in its approach to other EU member states. In an informal conversation with the Croatian ambassador to Poland, Ivan Del Vechio, it was revealed that, for example, the day before the Polish-German summit, the Polish president times a meeting with the Czech, Slovak, and Hungarian presidents and prime ministers and ‘then comes before Chancellor Angela Merkel with the position of the region, not Poland.’ Since Polish diplomacy initiates these meetings and cunningly represents regional countries due to previously agreed dates, it necessarily imposes itself as a regional leader. Several times this maneuver has succeeded for Polish diplomacy, putting other important EU members in a defensive position. Poland will take over the EU presidency from June next year, precisely during the final phase of negotiations for Croatia’s accession to the Union. Its support for Croatia will be very important, so, according to good observers of the situation in Poland and the EU, diplomatic rapprochement with Poland as a regional leader and future EU presidency country would be a strategically good move, not neglecting, of course, other important factors in the EU.

Croatian diplomatic representatives believe that one of the next moves by President Ivo Josipović should be his visit to Poland, which should not be abandoned regardless of the diplomatic gaffe in April this year, namely the absence from the funeral of Polish President Lech Kaczyński, who died in a plane crash while visiting the Polish site of the Katyn Forest where members of Stalin’s criminal regime killed more than 20,000 Poles. Despite this, President Josipović enjoys a reputation in Poland, and his absence from the funeral of the Polish president did not leave a mark on diplomatic relations between the two countries. The visit to Poland, a large and beautiful country, was a pleasant experience for representatives of counties and the media. The willingness of this country to help Croatia was sincere and visible during this study trip, which deepened the friendship between the two countries. The result is the announced signing of an agreement between Croatia and Poland in January next year, which would concretize cooperation on Polish assistance in the realization of projects financed by EU funds, as agreed by Minister Pankretić and Minister Bienkowska. The road to Polish success is long, as demonstrated by the regionalization process, and the procedure for project realization is lengthy, so the Croatian political elite should reach a consensus on this issue and get to work, regardless of current political squabbles.