Poland is shifting its strategy for allocating European Union funds, moving away from broad distribution toward targeted investments in key technologies. The new approach, spearheaded by the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy, aims to channel money into sectors that can propel the country’s technological advancement.
The ministry launched the Inno_Regio_Lab project, designed to upgrade the skills of officials at both central and regional levels in areas such as modern technologies and digitalization. The goal is to prepare them for the next EU financial perspective after 2027, including work on the Partnership Agreement for 2028–2034.
„Today everyone knows that if Poland is to continue developing and maintain the level of growth we achieved with great effort in recent decades, our development model must be based on Polish technologies and innovations developed and implemented in Poland,” said Minister of Funds and Regional Policy Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz during a Monday press conference.
Targeted funding for critical technologies
The ministry emphasizes that EU funds should flow to the most promising technological sectors for the Polish economy. The Fund for Support of Critical Technologies, launched in 2025, has already redirected nearly 3.8 billion złoty into biotechnologies and digital technologies.
„We already have concrete results in the form of 27 agreements worth over 465 million złoty in EU co-financing,” the ministry said in a statement. Pełczyńska-Nałęcz stressed that funds should not be too dispersed but should go to key industries such as artificial intelligence, digitalization, biotechnologies, and energy-efficient technologies.
Dual-use technologies and new loan mechanism
Due to geopolitical threats, funding is also being extended to dual-use technologies. From autumn this year, breakthrough solutions and investments in defense will also be financed under the Critical Technologies Support Fund. Additionally, a loan mechanism for companies will be launched in autumn, offering between 2.5 and 15 million złoty for digitalization, robotization, AI, the Internet of Things, and green transformation, with a repayment period of up to 15 years.
Pełczyńska-Nałęcz noted that the main challenge in Poland is not the level of funding for science but its proper distribution. „I may say something unpopular, but the truth is that it is not enough to give money for science – you have to give it precisely to those areas where science has gathered the best-educated people who will push science and the economy forward in strategically needed areas, such as digital or artificial intelligence,” she said.
Źródło: wnp.pl, Fot. PAP
